The Federal Republic of Somalia, better known simply as Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. 85% of the people in the country are ethnic Somalis, with the majority of the population being Sunni Muslim. Ever since the start of the Somali Civil War in 1991, Somalia has been regarded as a "failed state" due to the emergence of warlords, Islamist groups, and pirates as the real rulers of the country and the inability of the government to feed a starving populace or be self-sufficient in ruling the country.
History[]
Pre-independence[]
A map of Somalia
Somalia has had a rich history, starting out as a center of trade along the Swahili Coast of eastern Africa. The port city and present-day capital of Mogadishu functioned as a major part of the Indian Ocean trading system, with merchants arriving in the city and marrying local women, who acted as intermediaries. Mixed-race children were born, explaining why Somalia has a sizeable population of Arabs and why Arabic is a major language in the country in addition to Somali. The Shirazid Emirate of Persian descent ruled over Somalia for a few centuries, Oman owned some cities along the coastline, and even Portugal set up trading posts along the Indian Ocean to facilitate trade with India. The Dervish State fought against the United Kingdom and Italy until 1920, by which time they were the last Muslim power in Africa. The Italians and British partitioned Somaliland between them after crushing the Dervishes, and the British conquered Italian Somaliland in 1940 during World War II before limited control was returned to Italy. In 1960, the Somali Republic was declared, gaining independence from Italy's Trust Territory of Somaliland. In 1969, just nine years after it became independent, the Federal Republic of Somalia was overthrown by the Somali Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) and replaced by the Somali Democratic Republic dictatorship of Siad Barre.
Siad Barre's regime[]
The Siad Barre regime ruled from 1969 to 1991, and it embraced Marxism-Leninism. Originally vetted by the Soviet Union, the regime was supplanted for Ethiopia's Derg regime in 1977 when it fought against the communist Ethiopians in the Ogaden War. The United States supported Somalia against the Soviet-backed Ethiopians, and the ensuing war saw the Somalis be defeated. Somalia had a series of territorial disputes with Ethiopia over the Ogaden region, and it had US support until the end of the Cold War in 1991. That same year, the Siad Barre regime was overthrown in a revolution by warlords that led to the outbreak of the Somali Civil War, and for nine years Somalia was tossed into anarchy without a president. Warlords like Mohamed Farrah Aidid claimed the presidency for themselves, but the warlords hoarded food for themselves, leading to famine in the county. United Nations intervention culminated in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, and the UN peacekeepers were later forced to leave Somalia due to fierce resistance from the warlords. In 2000, a Transitional National Government assumed power, finally ending the anarchy.
Modern Somalia[]
al-Shabaab fighters marching
In 2006, Somalia was plunged back into civil war when the Islamic Courts Union rose up and demanded the implementation of sharia law. The Somali Army was deployed to crush the ICU, and it became neccessary for other countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, the United States, and African Union and UN coalition countries to occupy Somalia on a peacekeeping mission to help the government in maintaining control. The ICU was defeated, but Hizbul Islam and al-Shabaab later became threats, also following Islamism, and Somalia was in a continuous state of civil warfare. Terrorist attacks became normal, and Somalia was regarded as a failed state due to its inability to rule over its people, its inability to halt piracy by starving criminals in the Indian Ocean, and its failure to have a self-sufficient government, relying on other countries to help it in its struggle to fight terrorism.
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