Editing Somalia (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Somalia}}

=== Prehistory ===
<!-- Paleolithic & Neolithic are prehistoric -->
[[File:Laas Geel single cow.jpg|thumb|Neolithic rock art at the [[Laas Geel]] complex depicting a long-horned cow]]
Somalia was likely one of the first lands to be settled by early humans due to its location. [[Hunter-gatherer]]s who would later migrate out of Africa likely settled here before their migrations.<ref name=":0" /> During the Stone Age, the Doian and Hargeisan cultures flourished here.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Robertshaw|title=A History of African Archaeology|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican0000unse_j3c5/page/105|year=1990|publisher=J. Currey|isbn=978-0-435-08041-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican0000unse_j3c5/page/105 105]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gutherz |first1=Xavier |last2=Diaz |first2=Amélie |last3=Ménard |first3=Clément |last4=Bon |first4=François |last5=Douze |first5=Katja |last6=Léa |first6=Vanessa |last7=Lesur |first7=Joséphine |last8=Sordoillet |first8=Dominiqu e|date=Sep 2014 |title=The Hargeisan revisited: Lithic industries from shelter 7 of Laas Geel, Somaliland and the transition between the Middle and Late Stone Age in the Horn of Africa |journal=Quaternary International |volume=343 |pages=69–84 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038 |bibcode=2014QuInt.343...69G| issn = 1040-6182 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Clark|first=J. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCb6xzeydigC&q=somalia+stillbay+culture&pg=PA201|title=The Prehistoric Cultures of the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Stone Age Cultural and Climatic Succession in the Somalilands and Eastern Parts of Abyssinia|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-63536-4|language=en|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518174751/https://books.google.com/books?id=hCb6xzeydigC&q=somalia+stillbay+culture&pg=PA201#v=snippet&q=somalia%20stillbay%20culture&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Phillipson|first=D. W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRDYAW4wXOYC&q=Eburran+industry&pg=PA125|title=African Archaeology|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-54002-5|language=en|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175619/https://books.google.com/books?id=lRDYAW4wXOYC&q=Eburran+industry&pg=PA125|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Delson|first1=Eric|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6GFGsswTIO8C|title=Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory|edition=2nd|last2=Tattersall|first2=Ian|last3=Couvering|first3=John Van|last4=Brooks|first4=Alison S.|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-58228-9|language=en|access-date=23 August 2020|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175621/https://books.google.com/books?id=6GFGsswTIO8C|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Petraglia|first1=Michael D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6o4XLIKN0UC&q=hargesian+culture&pg=PA199|title=The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia: Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics|last2=Rose|first2=Jeffrey I.|year=2009|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-90-481-2719-1|language=en|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175621/https://books.google.com/books?id=x6o4XLIKN0UC&q=hargesian+culture&pg=PA199#v=snippet&q=hargesian%20culture&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The oldest evidence of burial customs in the Horn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Early Holocene Mortuary Practices and Hunter-Gatherer Adaptations in Southern Somalia|jstor=124524|pmid=16470993|pages=40–56|last=Brandt |first=S. A. |volume=20|issue=1|journal=World Archaeology|year=1988|doi=10.1080/00438243.1988.9980055}}</ref> The stone implements from the Jalelo site in the north were also characterized in 1909 as important artifacts demonstrating the archaeological universality during the Paleolithic between the East and the West.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/stream/mananth9a10royauoft/mananth9a10royauoft_djvu.txt|title=Prehistoric Implements From Somaliland|author=H. W. Seton-Karr|journal=[[Man (journal)|Man]]|access-date=30 January 2011|volume=9|issue=106|pages=182–183|year=1909|author-link=Henry Seton-Karr|doi=10.2307/2840281|jstor=2840281}}</ref>

According to linguists, the first [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]]-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing [[Neolithic]] period from the family's proposed [[Afroasiatic Urheimat|urheimat]] ("original homeland") in the [[Nile Valley]],<ref>Zarins, Juris (1990), "Early Pastoral Nomadism and the Settlement of Lower Mesopotamia", (Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research)</ref> or the [[Near East]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Diamond | first1 = J | last2 = Bellwood | first2 = P | year = 2003 | title = Farmers and Their Languages: The First Expansions | journal = Science | volume =  300| issue = 5619| pages =  597–603| doi = 10.1126/science.1078208 | pmid = 12714734 | bibcode = 2003Sci...300..597D | s2cid = 13350469 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.218.8905 }}</ref>

The [[Laas Geel]] complex on the outskirts of [[Hargeisa]] in northwestern Somalia dates back approximately 5,000 years, and has [[rock art]] depicting both wild animals and decorated cows.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bakano|first=Otto|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMNd90UAafsRNEDPyelL7Hee1ydw?docId=CNG.82196a5b15ef45a2d4e744675740cd6a.6e1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061703/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMNd90UAafsRNEDPyelL7Hee1ydw?docId=CNG.82196a5b15ef45a2d4e744675740cd6a.6e1|archive-date=21 September 2013 |title=Grotto galleries show early Somali life |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=24 April 2011|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref> Other [[cave painting]]s are found in the northern [[Dhambalin]] region, which feature one of the earliest known depictions of a hunter on horseback. The rock art is dated to 1,000 to 3,000 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mire|first=Sada|title=The Discovery of Dhambalin Rock Art Site, Somaliland|journal=African Archaeological Review|year=2008|volume=25|issue=3–4|pages=153–168|url=http://www.mbali.info/doc494.htm|access-date=22 June 2013|doi=10.1007/s10437-008-9032-2|s2cid=162960112|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627100400/http://www.mbali.info/doc494.htm|archive-date=27 June 2013|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Alberge|first=Dalya|title=UK archaeologist finds cave paintings at 100 new African sites|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/17/cave-paintings-found-in-somaliland|access-date=25 June 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=17 September 2010|archive-date=17 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917000155/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/17/cave-paintings-found-in-somaliland|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, between the towns of [[Las Khorey]] and [[El Ayo]] in northern Somalia lies [[Karinhegane]], the site of numerous cave paintings, which collectively have been estimated to be around 2,500 years old.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hodd|first=Michael|title=East African Handbook|year=1994|publisher=Trade & Travel Publications|isbn=0-8442-8983-3|page=640|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bL8tAQAAIAAJ|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701074114/https://books.google.com/books?id=bL8tAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ali|first=Ismail Mohamed|title=Somalia Today: General Information|year=1970|publisher=Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Somali Democratic Republic|page=295|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMVAAAAAYAAJ|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175721/https://books.google.com/books?id=tMVAAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Antiquity and classical era ===
{{Main|Somali Architecture}}
[[File:Men from Punt Carrying Gifts, Tomb of Rekhmire MET 30.4.152 EGDP013029.jpg|thumb|Men from [[Land of Punt|Punt]] carrying Gifts, Tomb of [[Rekhmire]].]]
Ancient [[pyramid]]ical structures, [[mausoleum]]s, ruined cities and stone walls, such as the [[Wargaade Wall]], are evidence of an old civilization that once thrived in the Somali peninsula.<ref name="Nthos">{{cite book|last=Njoku|first=Raphael Chijioke|title=The History of Somalia|year=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-37857-7|pages=29–31|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FlL2vE_qRQ8C|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175752/https://books.google.com/books?id=FlL2vE_qRQ8C|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|title=The Illustrated Timeline of the History of the World|year=2011|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4488-4797-6|page=131|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RO4kS1IR71sC|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104928/https://books.google.com/books?id=RO4kS1IR71sC|url-status=live}}</ref> This civilization enjoyed a trading relationship with [[ancient Egypt]] and [[Mycenaean Greece]] since the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancient [[Land of Punt]].<ref name="Nthos" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Abdel Monem A. H. Sayed|editor=Zahi A. Hawass|title=Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century: Archaeology|year=2003|publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press|isbn=977-424-674-8|pages=432–433|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1E13DorsFMEC|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175753/https://books.google.com/books?id=1E13DorsFMEC|url-status=live}}</ref> The Puntites native to the region traded [[myrrh]], spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory and [[frankincense]] with the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese and Romans through their commercial ports. An Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th dynasty]] Queen [[Hatshepsut]] is recorded on the temple reliefs at [[Deir el-Bahari]], during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.<ref name="Nthos" />

In the [[Classical antiquity|classical era]], the [[Macrobians]], who may have been ancestral to Somalis, established a powerful  kingdom that ruled large parts of modern Somalia. They were reputed for their longevity and wealth, and were said to be the "tallest and handsomest of all men".<ref name="Wheeler pg 526">[https://archive.org/stream/geographyofherod00whee/geographyofherod00whee_djvu.txt The Geography of Herodotus: Illustrated from Modern Researches and Discoveries] by James Talboys Wheeler, pg 1xvi, 315, 526</ref> The Macrobians were warrior herders and seafarers. According to Herodotus' account, the [[Persian Emperor]] [[Cambyses II]], upon his [[History of Achaemenid Egypt|conquest of Egypt]] in 525 BC, sent ambassadors to Macrobia, bringing luxury gifts for the Macrobian king to entice his submission. The Macrobian ruler, who was elected based on his stature and beauty, replied instead with a challenge for his Persian counterpart in the form of an unstrung bow: if the Persians could manage to draw it, they would have the right to invade his country; but until then, they should thank the gods that the Macrobians never decided to invade their empire.<ref name="Wheeler pg 526" /><ref name="Kitto2">John Kitto, James Taylor, ''The popular cyclopædia of Biblical literature: condensed from the larger work'', (Gould and Lincoln: 1856), p. 302.</ref> The Macrobians were a regional power reputed for their advanced architecture and [[gold]] wealth, which was so plentiful that they shackled their prisoners in golden chains.<ref name="Kitto2" /> The [[camel]] is believed to have been domesticated in the Horn region sometime between the 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE. From there, it spread to [[Egypt]] and the [[Maghreb]].<ref>Suzanne Richard (2003) [https://books.google.com/books?id=khR0apPid8gC&pg=PA120 Near Eastern archaeology: a reader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104928/https://books.google.com/books?id=khR0apPid8gC&pg=PA120 |date=23 January 2023 }}, Eisenbrauns, p. 120 {{ISBN|1-57506-083-3}}.</ref>

During the classical period, the [[Barbaria (region)|Barbara]] city-states of [[Mosylon]], [[Opone]], [[Heis (town)|Mundus]], [[Bulhar|Isis]], [[Malao]], [[Zeila|Avalites]], [[Essina]], [[Nikon (Somalia)|Nikon]] and [[Sarapion]] developed a lucrative trade network, connecting with merchants from [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic Egypt]], [[Ancient Greece]], [[Phoenicia]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthian Persia]], [[Sabaeans|Saba]], the [[Nabataean Kingdom]], and the [[Roman Empire]]. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the ''[[beden]]'' to transport their cargo.
[[File:Beden.jpg|thumbnail|The [[Beden]] is a fast, ancient Somali single or double-masted maritime ship.]]
After the [[Nabatea#Roman annexation|Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire]] and the Roman naval presence at [[Aden]] to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants agreed with the Romans to bar Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of the [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian peninsula]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Warmington|1995|p=54}}.</ref> to protect the interests of Somali and Arab merchants in the lucrative commerce between the Red and Mediterranean Seas.<ref name="EHW">{{Harvnb|Warmington|1995|p=229}}.</ref> However, Indian merchants continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from Roman interference.<ref>{{Harvnb|Warmington|1995|p=187}}.</ref> For centuries, Indian merchants brought large quantities of cinnamon to Somalia and Arabia from [[Ceylon]] and the [[Maluku Islands|Spice Islands]]. The source of the cinnamon and other spices is said to have been the best-kept secret of Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the Roman and Greek world; the Romans and Greeks believed the source to have been the Somali peninsula.<ref>{{Harvnb|Warmington|1995|pp=185–186}}.</ref> The collusive agreement among Somali and Arab traders inflated the price of Indian and Chinese cinnamon in North Africa, the Near East, and Europe, and made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants.<ref name="EHW" />

=== Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages ===

{{Main|Somali aristocratic and court titles|Ifat Sultanate|Walashma dynasty|Sultanate of Mogadishu|Adal Sultanate|Ajuran Sultanate|}}
[[File:Silk route.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Silk Road]] extending from China to southern Europe, Arabia, Somalia, Egypt, Persia, India, and Java]]
[[Islam]] was introduced to the area early on by the first Muslims of Mecca fleeing prosecution during the first [[Hegira|Hejira]] with [[Masjid al-Qiblatayn (Somalia)|Masjid al-Qiblatayn]] in [[Zeila]] being built before the [[Qibla]]h towards [[Mecca]]. It is one of the oldest [[mosque]]s in Africa.<ref>{{cite book |last=Briggs|first=Phillip|title=Somaliland|year=2012|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-371-9|page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6NI2FejIuwC}}</ref> In the late 9th century, [[Al-Yaqubi]] wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard.<ref name="Encyamer">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia Americana|volume =25 |year=1965|publisher=Americana Corporation|page=255|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OP5LAAAAMAAJ|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104929/https://books.google.com/books?id=OP5LAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> He also mentioned that the [[Adal Sultanate|Adal Kingdom]] had its capital in the city.<ref name="Encyamer"/><ref name="Lewispohoa">{{cite book |author=I. M. Lewis|title=Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho|year=1955|publisher=International African Institute|page=140 |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplesofthehorn007763mbp}}</ref> According to [[Leo Africanus]], the [[Adal Sultanate]] was governed by local [[Somali people|Somali]] dynasties and its realm encompassed the geographical area between the Bab el Mandeb and Cape Guardafui. It was thus flanked to the south by the [[Ajuran Empire]] and to the west by the [[Abyssinian Empire]].<ref name="Leo">{{cite book|last1=Africanus|first1=Leo|title=The History and Description of Africa|date=1526|publisher=Hakluyt Society|pages=51–54|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyanddescr03porygoog#page/n180/mode/2up|access-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>

Throughout the Middle Ages, Arab immigrants arrived in Somaliland, a historical experience which would later lead to the legendary stories about Muslim [[sheikh]]s such as [[Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti|Daarood]] and [[Ishaaq bin Ahmed]] (the purported ancestors of the [[Darod]] and [[Isaaq]] clans, respectively) travelling from [[Arabia]] to Somalia and marrying into the local [[Dir (clan)|Dir]] clan.<ref name="Lewis1994">{{cite book |last1=Lewis|first1=Ioan M.|author-link1=Ioan Lewis|date=1994|title=Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society|location=Lawrencewill, NJ|publisher=The Red Sea Press|isbn=0-932415-93-8|pages=102–106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fAjtruUXjEC}}</ref>

In 1332, the Zeila-based King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at halting Abyssinian emperor [[Amda Seyon I]]'s march toward the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Th. Houtsma|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|year=1987|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-08265-4|pages=125–126|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104929/https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125|url-status=live}}</ref> When the last Sultan of Ifat, [[Sa'ad ad-Din II]], was also killed by Emperor [[Dawit I of Ethiopia|Dawit I]] in Zeila in 1410, his children escaped to Yemen, before returning in 1415.<ref>{{cite journal | volume =28 | issue = 2| pages =217–229 | year =2010 | doi = 10.1017/S0020743800063145 | title =A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Abāsh of Lebanon |last1=Nizar Hamzeh |first1=A. |last2=Hrair Dekmejian |first2=R. | journal =International Journal of Middle East Studies| s2cid = 154765577}}</ref> In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was moved further inland to the town of [[Dakkar]], where [[Sabr ad-Din II]], the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen.<ref>{{cite book|last=Briggs|first=Philip|title=Bradt Somaliland: With Addis Ababa & Eastern Ethiopia|year=2012|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-371-9|page=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6NI2FejIuwC&pg=PA10|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=M6NI2FejIuwC&pg=PA10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lewispd">{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=I. M.|title=A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa|year=1999|publisher=James Currey Publishers|isbn=0-85255-280-7|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eK6SBJIckIsC&pg=PA17|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=eK6SBJIckIsC&pg=PA17|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Imaam Ahmed Gurey.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi|Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi]], [[Imam]] of the [[Adal Sultanate|Adal Empire]]]]
Adal's headquarters were again relocated the following century, this time southward to [[Harar]]. From this new capital, Adal organised an effective army led by Imam [[Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi]], (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"; both meaning "the left-handed") and his closest top general and brother in law [[Matan ibn Uthman Al Somali|Garad Matan]]. Imam Ahmed clan is documented to be from the [[Geri Koombe]], a sub clan of Darod.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cerulli |first=Enrico |title=Somalia: Storia della Somalia. L'Islām in Somalia. Il Libro degli Zengi |date=1957 |publisher=Istituto poligrafico dello Stato P.V. |language=Italian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti |date=1950 |publisher=Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Biovanni Freccani |volume=32}}</ref> This 16th-century campaign is historically known as the [[Abyssinian–Adal war|Conquest of Abyssinia]] (''Futuh al-Habash''). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of cannons supplied by the Ottoman Empire, which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and their Portuguese allies led by [[Cristóvão da Gama]].<ref>Lewis, I.M. (1999) ''A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa'', LIT Verlag Münster, p. 17, {{ISBN|3-8258-3084-5}}.</ref>

During the [[Ajuran Sultanate]] period, the city-states and republics of [[Merca]], [[Mogadishu]], [[Barawa]], [[Hobyo]] and their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and from Arabia, India, [[Venetia (region)|Venetia]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fage |first1=John Donnelly |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |title=Papers in African Prehistory|url=https://archive.org/details/papersinafricanp0000fage |url-access=registration |year=1970|isbn=978-0-521-09566-2|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> Persia, Egypt, Portugal, and as far away as China. [[Vasco da Gama]], who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses several storeys high and large palaces in its centre, in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.<ref>{{cite book|author=E. G. Ravenstein|title=A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama, 1497–1499|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwcPInJC__gC&pg=PA88|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-01296-6|page=88|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=AwcPInJC__gC&pg=PA88|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Harla people|Harla]], an early [[Hamitic]] group of tall stature who inhabited parts of Somalia, Tchertcher and other areas in the Horn, also erected various [[tumulus|tumuli]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Joussaume|first1=Roger|title=Fouille d'un tumulus à Ganda Hassan Abdi dans les monts du Harar|journal=Annales d'Ethiopie|date=1976|volume=10|pages=25–39|doi=10.3406/ethio.1976.1157|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/ethio_0066-2127_1976_num_10_1_1157.pdf}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> These masons are believed to have been ancestral to ethnic Somalis.<ref>{{cite book|last=Braukämper|first=Ulrich|title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&pg=PA18|page=18|year=2002|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-5671-7}}</ref>[[File:ShenDuGiraffePainting.jpg|thumb|The [[Ajuran Sultanate]] maintained commercial ties with the [[Ming dynasty]] and other kingdoms.|left|268x268px]]

In the 16th century, [[Duarte Barbosa]] noted that many ships from the [[Khambhat|Kingdom of Cambaya]] in modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloth and spices, for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses, and fruit on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.<ref>Sir Reginald Coupland (1965) ''East Africa and its invaders: from the earliest times to the death of Seyyid Said in 1856'', Russell & Russell, p. 38.</ref> Mogadishu, the center of a thriving textile industry known as ''toob benadir'' (specialized for the markets in Egypt, among other places<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward A. Alpers|title=East Africa and the Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|year=2009|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-453-8|page=79|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>), together with Merca and Barawa, also served as a transit stop for [[Swahili people|Swahili]] merchants from [[Mombasa]] and [[Malindi]] and for the gold trade from [[Kilwa Sultanate|Kilwa]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nigel Harris|title=The Return of Cosmopolitan Capital: Globalization, the State and War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3oyoVIIlMQC&pg=PA22|year=2003|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-786-4|pages=22–|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104931/https://books.google.com/books?id=S3oyoVIIlMQC&pg=PA22|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jewish]] merchants from the [[Strait of Hormuz|Hormuz]] brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange for [[grain]] and wood.<ref>{{cite book |author=R. J. Barendse|title=The Arabian Seas: The Indian Ocean world of the Seventeenth Century /c R.J. Barendse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qvq9dN8j5MC&pg=PA343|year=2002|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-0729-4|pages=343–}}</ref>

Trading relations were established with [[Malacca]] in the 15th century,<ref>{{Harvnb|Alpers|1976}}.</ref> with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.<ref>Caroline Sassoon (1978) ''Chinese Porcelain Marks from Coastal Sites in Kenya: Aspects of Trade in the Indian Ocean, XIV–XIX Centuries'', Vol. 43–47, British Archaeological Reports, p. 2, {{ISBN|0-86054-018-9}}.</ref> Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to the [[Ming Empire]] of China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between East Asia and the Horn.<ref>Sir Reginald Coupland (1965) ''East Africa and Its Invaders: From the Earliest Times to the Death of Seyyid Said in 1856'', Russell & Russell, p. 37.</ref> Hindu merchants from [[Surat]] and Southeast African merchants from [[Pate Island|Pate]], seeking to bypass both the [[Portuguese India]] blockade ( and later the Omani interference), used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' direct jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without interference.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward A. Alpers|title=East Africa and the Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|year=2009|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-453-8|page=21|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}

=== Early modern era and the scramble for Africa ===
{{Main|Geledi sultanate|Majeerteen Sultanate|Sultanate of Hobyo|l2 = Isaaq Sultanate|Dervish movement (Somali)}}
{{see also|Italian Somaliland|British Somaliland}}
[[File:Mogadishu1936.jpg|thumb|[[Mogadishu under Italian rule|Mogadishu]], capital of [[Italian Somaliland]], with the [[Mogadiscio Cathedral|Catholic Cathedral]] at the center and the Arch monument in honor of [[Umberto I of Italy|King Umberto I of Italy]]]]
[[File:Reception of Olal Dinle in Italy.jpg|thumb|Sultan [[Olol Dinle]] (third from right) and his delegation, in [[Benito Mussolini]]'s Italy, during the festivities of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s visit to [[Rome]], 1938|261x261px]]
In the [[early modern]] period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate and [[Ajuran Sultanate]] began to flourish in Somalia. These included the [[Hiraab Imamate]], the [[Isaaq Sultanate]] led by the [[Guled Dynasty|Guled dynasty]],<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last1=Ylönen |first1=Aleksi Ylönen |title=The Horn Engaging the Gulf Economic Diplomacy and Statecraft in Regional Relations |year= 2023 |isbn=9780755635191 |page=113|publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Arafat |first=S. M. Yasir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUoNEQAAQBAJ&dq=isaaq+sultanate&pg=PA274 |title=Suicidal Behavior in Muslim Majority Countries: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Prevention |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-97-2519-9 |pages=273–274 |language=en}}</ref> the [[Habr Yunis Sultanate]] led by the [[Rer Ainanshe|Ainanshe dynasty]],<ref name="Truhart, P. 1984 pp.72" /> the [[Sultanate of the Geledi]] (Gobroon dynasty), the [[Majeerteen Sultanate]] (Migiurtinia), and the [[Sultanate of Hobyo]] (Obbia). They continued the tradition of castle-building and seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires.

Sultan [[Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim]], the third Sultan of the House of Gobroon, started the golden age of the Gobroon Dynasty. His army came out victorious during the Bardheere Jihad, which restored stability in the region and revitalized the East African [[ivory trade]]. He also had cordial relations and received gifts from the rulers of neighbouring and distant kingdoms such as the Omani, [[Wituland|Witu]] and Yemeni Sultans.

Sultan Ibrahim's son [[Ahmed Yusuf (Gobroon)|Ahmed Yusuf]] succeeded him as one of the most important figures in 19th-century East Africa, receiving tribute from Omani governors and creating alliances with important Muslim families on the East African coast.

In [[Somaliland]], the Isaaq Sultanate was established in 1750. The Isaaq Sultanate was a [[Somali people|Somali]] kingdom that ruled parts of the [[Horn of Africa]] during the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref name=":13" /> It spanned the territories of the [[Isaaq]] clan, descendants of the [[Banu Hashim]] clan,<ref name="Lewisapd">I. M. Lewis, ''A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa'', (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p. 157.</ref> in modern-day [[Somaliland]] and [[Ethiopia]]. The sultanate was governed by the Rer Guled branch established by the first sultan, Sultan [[Guled Abdi (Sultan)|Guled Abdi]], of the [[Eidagale]] clan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Taariikhda Beerta Suldaan Cabdilaahi ee Hargeysa {{!}} Somalidiasporanews.com|language=so|url=http://www.qurbejoog.com/taariikhda-beerta-suldaan-cabdilaahi-ee-hargeysa/|access-date=2021-01-09|archive-date=19 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219181303/http://www.qurbejoog.com/taariikhda-beerta-suldaan-cabdilaahi-ee-hargeysa/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Genealogies of the Somal|date=1896|publisher=Eyre and Spottiswoode (London)|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Taariikhda Saldanada Reer Guuleed Ee Somaliland.Abwaan:Ibraahim-rashiid Cismaan Guure (aboor). {{!}} Togdheer News Network|url=http://togdheernews.com/articles/31/05/2016/taariikhda-saldanada-reer-guuleed-ee-somaliland-abwaanibraahim-rashiid-cismaan-guure-aboor/|access-date=2021-08-09|language=en-US|archive-date=11 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111020220/http://togdheernews.com/articles/31/05/2016/taariikhda-saldanada-reer-guuleed-ee-somaliland-abwaanibraahim-rashiid-cismaan-guure-aboor/|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to oral tradition, prior to the Guled dynasty the [[Isaaq]] clan-family were ruled by a dynasty of the Tolje'lo branch starting from, descendants of Ahmed nicknamed Tol Je'lo, the eldest son of [[Ishaaq bin Ahmed|Sheikh Ishaaq]]'s [[Harari people|Harari]] wife. There were eight Tolje'lo rulers in total, starting with Boqor Harun ({{Langx|so|Boqor Haaruun}}) who ruled the Isaaq Sultanate for centuries starting from the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-07|title=Degmada Cusub Ee Dacarta Oo Loogu Wanqalay Munaasibad Kulmisay Madaxda Iyo Haldoorka Somaliland |url=https://www.hubaalmedia.net/degmada-cusub-ee-dacarta-oo-loogu-wanqalay-munaasibad-kulmisay-madaxda-iyo-haldoorka-somaliland/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Hubaal Media|archive-date=11 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811205734/https://www.hubaalmedia.net/degmada-cusub-ee-dacarta-oo-loogu-wanqalay-munaasibad-kulmisay-madaxda-iyo-haldoorka-somaliland/|url-status=dead|language=so}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Taariikhda Toljecle|url=https://www.tashiwanaag.com/toljecle-taariikh-ahaan.html|access-date=2021-08-09|website=www.tashiwanaag.com|archive-date=9 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809022129/https://www.tashiwanaag.com/toljecle-taariikh-ahaan.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The last Tolje'lo ruler [[Garad]] Dhuh Barar ({{langx|so|Dhuux Baraar}}) was overthrown by a coalition of Isaaq clans. The once strong Tolje'lo clan were scattered and took refuge amongst the [[Habr Awal]] with whom they still mostly live.<ref>{{Citation|title=Taariikhda Boqortooyadii Axmed Sheikh Isaxaaq ee Toljecle 1787 | date=23 February 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MfB4XvREbI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/6MfB4XvREbI| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-08-15}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>New Issues in Refugee Research  Working Paper No. 65 Pastoral society and transnational refugees: population movements in Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia 1988–2000 Guido Ambroso, Table 1, p. 5</ref>

In the late 19th century, after the [[Berlin Conference]] of 1884, European powers began the [[Scramble for Africa]]. In that year, a British protectorate was declared over part of Somalia, on the African coast opposite South Yemen.<ref name="ReferenceA2">Langers Encyclopedia of World History, 594.</ref> Initially, this region was under the control of the Indian Office, and so administered as part of the Indian Empire; in 1898 it was transferred to control by London.<ref name="ReferenceA2" /> In 1889, the protectorate and later colony of [[Italian Somalia]] was officially established by [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] through various treaties signed with a number of chiefs and sultans;<ref>Mariam Arif Gassem, ''Somalia: clan vs. nation'' (s.n.: 2002), p. 4</ref> Sultan [[Yusuf Ali Kenadid]] first sent a request to Italy in late December 1888 to make his [[Sultanate of Hobyo]] an Italian protectorate before later signing a treaty in 1889.<ref name="Oliver">{{cite book |last=Oliver |first=Roland Anthony |title=History of East Africa|volume = 2 |year=1976 |publisher=Clarendon Press |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pGkMAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>
[[File:Hobyo Sultanate Cavalry And Fort.jpg|left|thumb|[[Sultanate of Hobyo|Hobyo Sultanate]] cavalry and fort]]
The Dervish movement successfully repulsed the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region.<ref>Kevin Shillington, ''Encyclopedia of African History'' (CRC Press, 2005), p. 1406.</ref> The [[Dervish movement (Somali)|Darawiish]] defeated the Italian, British, Abyssinian colonial powers on numerous occasions, most notably, the 1903 victory at Cagaarweyne commanded by [[Suleiman Aden Galaydh]],<ref name="kenna2">{{cite news|date=2 January 1904|title=The fight in Somaliland|newspaper=Rhyl Record and Advertiser|url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3640121/3640124/41/|via=newspapers.library.wales|access-date=6 June 2021|archive-date=5 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003300/https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3640121/3640124/41/|url-status=live}}</ref> forcing the [[British Empire]] to retreat to the coastal region in the early 1900s.<ref>Kevin Shillington, ''Encyclopedia of African history'', (CRC Press: 2005), p. 1406.</ref> The Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 by British airpower.{{sfn|Samatar|1982|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oralpoetrysomali00sama/page/n144 131], 135}}

The dawn of [[fascism]] in the early 1920s heralded a change of strategy for Italy, as the north-eastern sultanates were soon to be forced within the boundaries of ''La Grande Somalia'' ("''[[Greater Somalia]]''") according to the plan of Fascist Italy. With the arrival of Governor [[Cesare Maria De Vecchi]] on 15 December 1923, things began to change for that part of Somaliland known as [[Italian Somaliland]]. The last piece of land acquired by Italy in Somalia was [[Oltre Giuba]], present-day [[Jubaland]] region, in 1925.<ref name="Oliver" />[[File:Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.jpeg|thumb|upright|Statue of [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan|Muhammed Abdullah Hassan]], Leader of the [[Dervish movement (Somali)|Dervishes]]]]The Italians began local infrastructure projects, including the construction of hospitals, farms and schools.<ref name="cdtydiydc">{{cite book |author=Roland Anthony |title=Somalia in Pictures |year=2007 |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |page=28 |isbn=9780822565864 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMRf1RZ9zkAC}}</ref> [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]], under [[Benito Mussolini]], attacked Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, with an aim to colonize it. The invasion was condemned by the [[League of Nations]], but little was done to stop it or to liberate occupied Ethiopia. In 1936, Italian Somalia was integrated into [[Italian East Africa]], alongside Eritrea and Ethiopia, as the [[Somalia Governorate]]. On 3 August 1940, Italian troops, including Somali colonial units, crossed from Ethiopia to [[Italian conquest of British Somaliland|invade British Somaliland]], and by 14 August, succeeded in taking [[Berbera]] from the British.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

A British force, including troops from several African countries, launched the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|campaign in January 1941]] from Kenya to liberate British Somaliland and Italian-occupied Ethiopia and conquer Italian Somaliland. By February most of Italian Somaliland was captured and, in March, British Somaliland was retaken from the sea. The forces of the British Empire operating in Somaliland comprised the three divisions of South African, West African, and East African troops. They were assisted by Somali forces led by Abdulahi Hassan with Somalis of the [[Isaaq]], [[Dhulbahante]], and [[Warsangali]] clans prominently participating. The number of [[Italian Somalis]] began to decline after World War II, with fewer than 10,000 remaining in 1960.<ref name="Tripodi1999" />

=== Independence (1960–1969) ===
{{Main|Trust Territory of Somaliland|State of Somaliland|Somali Republic|Greater Somalia|Somali Youth League}}

Following World War II, Britain retained control of both [[British Somaliland]] and Italian Somaliland as protectorates. In 1945, during the [[Potsdam Conference]], the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland as the [[Trust Territory of Somaliland]], on the condition first proposed by the Somali Youth League (SYL) and other nascent Somali political organizations, such as Hizbia Digil Mirifle Somali (HDMS) and the Somali National League (SNL)—that Somalia achieve independence within ten years.<ref name="Zolberg">{{Harvnb|Zolberg|Suhrke|Aguayo|1989|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=B9_yS_ynvzgC&pg=PA106 106]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Kwame Anthony Appiah|author2=Henry Louis Gates|title=Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience: the concise desk reference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cereWkyNJckC|date= 2003|publisher=Running Press|isbn=978-0-7624-1642-4|page=1749|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105443/https://books.google.com/books?id=cereWkyNJckC|url-status=live}}</ref> British Somaliland remained a protectorate of Britain until 1960.<ref name="Tripodi1999">{{cite book|author=Paolo Tripodi|title=The Colonial Legacy in Somalia: Rome and Mogadishu: From Colonial Administration to Operation Restore Hope|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJR3RAAACAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Macmillan Press|isbn=978-0-312-22393-9|page=68|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105442/https://books.google.com/books?id=eJR3RAAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Isaaq Chiefs Hargeisa.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Leaders of the [[Isaaq]] clan photographed in [[Hargeisa]] in 1958 during the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester's visit to Somaliland]]

To the extent that [[Italy]] held the territory by UN mandate, the trusteeship provisions gave the Somalis the opportunity to gain experience in Western political education and self-government. These were advantages that British Somaliland, which was to be incorporated into the new Somali state, did not have. Although in the 1950s British colonial officials attempted, through various administrative development efforts, to make up for past neglect, the protectorate stagnated in political administrative development. The disparity between the two territories in economic development and political experience would later cause serious difficulties integrating the two parts.<ref>[[Helen Chapin Metz]], ed. (1992) [http://countrystudies.us/somalia ''Somalia: A Country Study''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805012513/http://countrystudies.us/somalia/ |date=5 August 2011 }}. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress.</ref>[[File:Mogadishu city centre - 1960s.jpg|thumb|upright|An avenue in downtown [[Mogadishu]] in 1963]]Meanwhile, in 1948, under pressure from their World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis,<ref>Federal Research Division (2004) ''Somalia: A Country Study'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, p. 38, {{ISBN|1-4191-4799-4}}.</ref> the British returned the [[Haud]] (an important Somali grazing area that was presumably protected by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886) and the [[Somali Region]] to Ethiopia, based on a treaty they signed in 1897 in which the British ceded Somali territory to the Ethiopian Emperor [[Menelek II of Ethiopia|Menelik]] in exchange for his help against possible advances by the French.<ref>{{Harvnb|Laitin|1977|p=73}}.</ref>

Britain included the conditional provision that the Somali residents would retain their autonomy, but Ethiopia immediately claimed sovereignty over the area. This prompted an unsuccessful bid by Britain in 1956 to buy back the Somali lands it had turned over.<ref name="Zolberg"/> Britain also granted administration of the almost exclusively Somali-inhabited [[Northern Frontier District]] (NFD) to Kenyan nationalists.<ref>Francis Vallat (1974) ''First report on succession of states in respect of treaties: International Law Commission twenty-sixth session 6 May – 26 July 1974'', United Nations, p. 20</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Laitin|1977|p=75}}.</ref> This was despite a [[plebiscite]] in which, according to a British colonial commission, almost all of the territory's ethnic Somalis favored joining the newly formed Somali Republic.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rousseau|first1=David Laurent|title=Domestic political institutions and the evolution of international conflict|date=1996|publisher=University of Michigan|page=231|isbn=9780591309287|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isYeAQAAMAAJ|access-date=24 September 2016|archive-date=1 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101175701/https://books.google.com/books?id=isYeAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

A [[French Somaliland overseas territory referendum, 1958|referendum]] was held in neighbouring [[Djibouti]] (then known as [[French Somaliland]]) in 1958, on the eve of Somalia's independence in 1960, to decide whether or not to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, largely due to a combined yes vote by the sizable [[Afar people|Afar]] ethnic group and resident Europeans.<ref name="Barrington2006" /> There was also widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls.<ref>Kevin Shillington (2005) ''Encyclopedia of African history'', CRC Press, p. 360, {{ISBN|1-57958-245-1}}.</ref>

The majority of those who voted 'no' were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as had been proposed by [[Mahmoud Harbi]], Vice President of the Government Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later.<ref name="Barrington2006">{{Harvnb|Schraeder|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pyWpKKlukLcC&pg=PA115 115]}}</ref> Djibouti finally gained independence from [[France]] in 1977, and [[Hassan Gouled Aptidon]], a Somali who had campaigned for a 'yes' vote in the referendum of 1976, eventually became Djibouti's first president (1977–1999).<ref name="Barrington2006" />
[[File:President Aden Adde alongside Prime minister Sharmarke.jpg|thumb|[[Aden Adde|President Aden Adde]] alongside [[Abdirashid Shermarke|Prime Minister Abdirashiid Ali Sharmarke]] praying [[Eid prayers|Eid]] in 1964 at [[Arba'a Rukun Mosque]]]]
On 1 July 1960, five days after the former British Somaliland protectorate obtained independence as the State of Somaliland, the territory united with the Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the [[Somali Republic]],<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica 2002 p.835">Encyclopædia Britannica, ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica'', (Encyclopædia Britannica: 2002), p. 835</ref> albeit within boundaries drawn up by Italy and Britain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buluugleey.com/warkiidanbe/Governance.htm |title=The dawn of the Somali nation-state in 1960 |publisher=Buluugleey.com |access-date=25 February 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116055005/http://www.buluugleey.com/warkiidanbe/Governance.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20060809.aspx |title=The making of a Somalia state |publisher=Strategypage.com |date=9 August 2006 |access-date=25 February 2009 |archive-date=2 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702033453/http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20060809.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> A government was formed by [[Abdullahi Issa]] and [[Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal]] with other members of the trusteeship and protectorate governments, with [[Abdulcadir Muhammed Aden]] as President of the [[Parliament of Somalia|Somali National Assembly]], [[Aden Abdullah Osman Daar]] as [[List of Presidents of Somalia|President]] of the Somali Republic, and [[Abdirashid Ali Shermarke]] as [[Prime Minister of Somalia|Prime Minister]] (later to become president from 1967 to 1969). On 20 July 1961 and through a [[Somali constitutional referendum, 1961|popular referendum]], was ratified popularly by the people of Somalia under Italian trusteeship, Most of the people from the former Somaliland Protectorate did not participate in the referendum, although only a small number of Somalilanders who participated the referendum voted against the [[Constitution of Somalia|new constitution]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1961 Referendum|url=http://www.somalilandlaw.com/The_1961_Referendum_Table1_Note.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011003402/http://www.somalilandlaw.com/The_1961_Referendum_Table1_Note.pdf|archive-date=11 October 2015}}</ref> which was first drafted in 1960.<ref name="Illustrated Library 1967 338.2"/> In 1967, Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal became Prime Minister, a position to which he was appointed by Shermarke. Egal would later become the President of the autonomous [[Somaliland]] region in northwestern Somalia.

=== Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991) ===
{{Main|Somali Democratic Republic|1969 Somali coup d'état}}

=== Coup d'État ===
On 15 October, while president Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was touring drought-stricken Las Anood, his personal bodyguard shot and killed him. Former US Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]] concluded that the bodyguard was acting of his own accord.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/LOC-HAK-510-5-8-1.pdf |title=Political Implication of Assassination of Somali President |date=20 October 1969 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref> Six days later, on 21 October, General [[Siad Barre]] led a military coup and successfully overthrew the parliamentary government. Modern political analysts assert that the coup was motivated by corruption in the parliamentary government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=L. Daniels |first=Christopher |title=Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa |date=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810883109 |page=12 |language=English}}</ref>  The bodyguard was tried, tortured and executed by the [[Supreme Revolutionary Council (Somalia)|Supreme Revolutionary Council]] (SRC). He came from the same clan background as the president who he killed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adan Sheikh |first=Mohamed |title=Arrivederci a Mogadiscio |date=1991 |publisher=Edizioni associate |isbn=9788826700700 |page=76 |language=italian}}</ref>
[[File:Mohamed_Ainanshe_and_Kim_Il_Sung_-1970.jpg|right|thumb|[[Mohamed Ainanshe Guled]] in [[North Korea]] meeting President [[Kim Il Sung]] 1970]]

Alongside Barre, the SRC that assumed power after President Sharmarke's assassination was led by Brigadier General [[Mohamed Ainanshe Guled]], Lieutenant Colonel [[Salaad Gabeyre Kediye]] and Chief of Police [[Jama Ali Korshel|Jama Korshel]]. Kediye officially held the title "Father of the Revolution", and Barre shortly afterwards became the head of the SRC.<ref>{{cite book | author = Hussein Mohamed Adam | author2 = Richard Ford | title = Mending rips in the sky: options for Somali communities in the 21st century | publisher = Red Sea Press | year = 1997 | page = 226 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0m9yAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 1-56902-073-6 | access-date = 20 June 2015 | archive-date = 23 January 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105443/https://books.google.com/books?id=0m9yAAAAMAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref> The SRC subsequently renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic,<ref>J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver (1985) ''The Cambridge history of Africa'', Vol. 8, Cambridge University Press, p. 478, {{ISBN|0-521-22409-8}}.</ref><ref name="Grolierenc">''The Encyclopedia Americana: complete in thirty volumes. Skin to Sumac'', Vol. 25, Grolier: 1995, p. 214, {{ISBN|0-7172-0126-0}}.</ref> dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the constitution.<ref name="Pjdlfw">de la Fosse Wiles, Peter John (1982) [https://books.google.com/books?id=lgMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA279 ''The New Communist Third World: an essay in political economy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105443/https://books.google.com/books?id=lgMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA279 |date=23 January 2023 }}, Taylor & Francis, p. 279 {{ISBN|0-7099-2709-6}}.</ref>

The revolutionary government established large-scale public works programs and successfully implemented an urban and rural [[literacy]] campaign, which helped dramatically increase the literacy rate. The Somali Democratic Republic achieved a literacy rate of 70%, one of the highest in Africa at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Irving |first=Kaplan |title=Area Handbook for Somalia |volume= 550 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1977 |page=116 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chijioke Njoku |first=Raphael |title=The History of Somalia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313378584 |page=111 |language=English}}</ref>

In addition to a nationalization program of industry and land, the new regime's foreign policy placed an emphasis on Somalia's traditional and religious links with the [[Arab world]], eventually joining the [[Arab League]] in February 1974.<ref>Benjamin Frankel (1992) ''The Cold War, 1945–1991: Leaders and other important figures in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, and the Third World'', Gale Research, p. 306 {{ISBN|0-8103-8928-2}}.</ref> That same year, Barre also served as chairman of the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU), the predecessor of the [[African Union]] (AU).<ref>Oihe Yang (2000) ''Africa South of the Sahara 2001'', 30th ed., Taylor and Francis, p. 1025 {{ISBN|1-85743-078-6}}.</ref>

In July 1976, Barre's SRC disbanded itself and established in its place the [[Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party]] (SRSP), a one-party government based on [[scientific socialism]] and Islamic tenets. The SRSP was an attempt to reconcile the official state ideology with the official state religion by [[Revisionism (Marxism)|adapting Marxist precepts]] to local circumstances. Emphasis was placed on the Muslim principles of social progress, equality and justice, which the government argued formed the core of scientific socialism and its own accent on self-sufficiency, public participation and popular control, as well as direct ownership of the means of production. While the SRSP encouraged private investment on a limited scale, the administration's overall direction was essentially [[Communism|communist]].<ref name="Pjdlfw" />

In July 1977, the [[Ogaden War]] broke out after Barre's government used a plea for national unity to justify an [[War of aggression|aggressive]] incorporation of the predominantly Somali-inhabited [[Ogaden]] region of Ethiopia into a Pan-Somali [[Greater Somalia]], along with the rich agricultural lands of south-eastern Ethiopia, infrastructure, and strategically important areas as far north as Djibouti.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gebru Tareke|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dRIfYPTZxJsC&pg=PA182 182–186]}}. The areas concerned amount to about a third of Ethiopia.</ref> In the first week of the conflict, Somali armed forces took southern and central Ogaden and for most of the war, the Somali army scored continuous victories on the Ethiopian army and followed them as far as [[Sidamo Province|Sidamo]]. By September 1977, Somalia controlled 90% of the Ogaden and captured strategic cities such as [[Jijiga]] and put heavy pressure on [[Dire Dawa]], threatening the train route from the latter city to Djibouti. After the siege of Harar, a massive unprecedented Soviet intervention consisting of 20,000 [[Cuba]]n forces and several thousand Soviet experts came to the aid of Ethiopia's communist [[Derg]] regime. By 1978, the Somali troops were ultimately pushed out of the Ogaden. This shift in support by the Soviet Union motivated the Barre government to seek allies elsewhere. It eventually settled on the Soviets' [[Cold War]] arch-rival, the [[United States]], which had been courting the Somali government for some time. Somalia's initial friendship with the Soviet Union and later partnership with the United States enabled it to build the largest army in Africa.<ref name="Ramsbotham 222">{{cite book |author=Oliver Ramsbotham |author2=Tom Woodhouse |year=1999 |title=Encyclopedia of international peacekeeping operations |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofin0000rams |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofin0000rams/page/222 222] |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=0-87436-892-8}}</ref>[[File:Muhammad Siad Barre - 40866X9X9.jpg|thumb|Major General [[Mohamed Siad Barre]], Chairman of the [[Supreme Revolutionary Council (Somalia)|Supreme Revolutionary Council]], meeting with President of Romania [[Nicolae Ceauşescu]]]]A new constitution was promulgated in 1979 under which elections for a People's Assembly were held. However, Barre's Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party [[politburo]] continued to rule.<ref name="Grolierenc"/> In October 1980, the SRSP was disbanded, and the Supreme Revolutionary Council was re-established in its place.<ref name="Pjdlfw"/> By that time, Barre's government had become increasingly unpopular. Many Somalis had become disillusioned with life under military dictatorship.

The regime was weakened further in the 1980s as the Cold War drew to a close and Somalia's strategic importance was diminished. The government became increasingly [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]], and [[resistance movement]]s, encouraged by Ethiopia, sprang up across the country, eventually leading to the [[Somali Civil War]]. Among the militia groups were the [[Somali Salvation Democratic Front]] (SSDF), [[United Somali Congress]] (USC), [[Somali National Movement]] (SNM) and the [[Somali Patriotic Movement]] (SPM), together with the non-violent political oppositions of the [[Somali Democratic Movement]] (SDM), the [[Factions in the Somali Civil War#Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA)|Somali Democratic Alliance]] (SDA) and the Somali Manifesto Group (SMG).

=== Somali Civil War ===
{{Main|Somali Civil War|History of Somalia (1991–2006)|War in Somalia (2006–2009)|Somali Civil War (2009–present)|Isaaq genocide|Somaliland War of Independence}}
[[File:Somali Civil War Map on the 5th October 2024.svg|thumb|<!-- Do not change this map without engaging with [[File Talk:Somali Civil War (2009-present).svg]] or [[Talk:Somali Civil War]] -->
Approximate{{efn|Despite accusations of breaking rules, this map has been selected via an RfC on [[Talk:Somali Civil War]]. However, the RfC also concludes that if {{File:Somali Civil War Critical Threats.png}} ever gets an SVG variant, that should be used instead, So if you have the opportunity, please do that accordingly.}} map of the current phase of the Somali Civil War (updated December 2024){{Dubious|Sourcing|date=September 2024}}
{{leftlegend|#ebc0b3|Control of Somalia and [[African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia|allies]]}}
{{leftlegend|#b4b2ae|[[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Presence/Control of Al-Shabaab]] and [[Al-Qaeda|allies]]}}
{{leftlegend|#e3d975|[[List of states with limited recognition|Control of the Self-declared state]] of [[Somaliland]]}}
{{leftlegend|#808080|[[Islamic State in Somalia|Control of the Islamic State]]}}|350px]]
As the [[moral authority]] of Barre's government was gradually eroded, many Somalis became disillusioned with life under military rule. By the mid-1980s, resistance movements supported by Ethiopia's communist [[Derg]] administration had sprung up across the country. Barre responded by ordering punitive measures against those he perceived as locally supporting the guerrillas, especially in the northern regions. The clampdown included bombing of cities, with the northwestern administrative centre of [[Hargeisa]], a [[Somali National Movement]] (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988.<ref name="Locsg">{{cite web|title=Somalia&nbsp;— Government|url=http://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=15 February 2014|archive-date=4 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704043353/http://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2013/10/22/state-sponsored-violence-and-conflict-under-mahamed-siyad-barre-the-emergence-of-path-dependent-patterns-of-violence/ |title=State-sponsored violence and conflict under Mahamed Siyad Barre: the emergence of path dependent patterns of violence |last1=Compagnon |first1=Daniel |date=22 October 2013 |publisher=[[World Peace Foundation]], [[The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]] |access-date=7 October 2014 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002022805/https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2013/10/22/state-sponsored-violence-and-conflict-under-mahamed-siyad-barre-the-emergence-of-path-dependent-patterns-of-violence/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The clampdown initiated by [[Siad Barre|Barre]]'s government extended its reach beyond the initial bombings in the north to encompass various regions across the country. This reproduction of aggressive strategies aimed at stifling descent and retaining authority over the populace was a hallmark of the government's repressive actions in the South. One of the most notable instances occurred in 1991, when Barre's regime initiated a ruthless aerial assault that led to the deaths of numerous innocent individuals in the town of [[Beledweyne|Beledwene]], situated in southern Somalia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 1992 |title=Somalia: Information on the capture of the town of Belet Uen by the United Somali Congress (USC) at the end of 1990 or early 1991 and on persecution of Darod in Belet Uen by USC soldiers |url=https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20230604082615/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acb654.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424094459/https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20230604082615/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acb654.html |website=webarchive.archive.unhcr.org |publisher=Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |access-date=11 April 2024 |archive-date=24 April 2024 }}</ref> The cruelty and magnitude of this atrocity highlighted the degree to which the government was prepared to go to quash any sort of opposition or resistance, displaying a blatant disregard for human rights and the worth of human life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 January 1990 |title=Human Rights Watch World Report 1989 – Somalia |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/hrw/1990/en/35330#:~:text=We%20urge%20the,from%20international%20largesse. |website=Refwolrd |publisher=Human Rights Watch |place=Somalia |publication-date=1 January 1990 |access-date=11 April 2024 |archive-date=24 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424095942/https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/hrw/1990/en/35330#:~:text=We%20urge%20the,from%20international%20largesse. |url-status=live }}</ref>

Another notable instance of [[Siad Barre|Barre]]'s repressive policies occurred in the city of [[Baidoa]], which earned the nickname 'the city of death' due to the tragic events that unfolded there during the famine and [[Somali Civil War|civil war]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Aug 2023 |title=One in four people in Somalia have now fled their homes |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/one-four-people-somalia-have-now-fled-their-homes#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20city%20of%20Baidoa%20earned,war%20in%20the%20early%201990s. |website=reliefweb |publisher=Islamic Relief |access-date=11 April 2024 |archive-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211093948/https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/one-four-people-somalia-have-now-fled-their-homes#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20city%20of%20Baidoa%20earned,war%20in%20the%20early%201990s. |url-status=live }}</ref> Hundreds of thousands of individuals lost their lives as a consequence of governmental strategies specifically aimed at the [[Rahanweyn]] community residing in these areas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yuusuf |first=Muuse |title=The Genesis of the Civil War in Somalia: The Impact of Foreign Military Intervention on the Conflict |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2022 |isbn=9780755642410 |page=121}}</ref>

During 1990, in the capital city of Mogadishu, the residents were prohibited from gathering publicly in groups greater than three or four. Fuel shortages, inflation, and currency devaluation impacted the economy. A thriving black market existed in the centre of the city as banks experienced shortages of local currency for exchange. Harsh [[exchange control]] regulations were introduced to prevent export of foreign currency. Although no travel restrictions were placed on foreigners, photographing many locations was banned. During daytime in Mogadishu, the appearance of any government military force was extremely rare. Alleged late-night operations by government authorities, however, included "disappearances" of individuals from their homes.<ref>{{cite book |title=Focus on the Horn, Issues 7–9|year=1989|publisher=Horn of Africa Information Committee|page=37}}</ref>

In 1991, the Barre administration was ousted by a coalition of clan-based opposition groups, backed by Ethiopia's then-ruling [[Derg]] regime and [[Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Libya]].<ref>Columbia University, School of International Affairs, ''Journal of international affairs'', Vol. 40 (1986), p. 165.</ref> Following a meeting of the [[Somali National Movement]] and northern clans' elders, the northern former British portion of the country [[Somaliland Declaration of Independence|declared its independence]] as the [[Somaliland|Republic of Somaliland]] in May 1991. Although {{Lang|la|de facto}} independent and relatively stable compared to the tumultuous south, it has not been recognized by any foreign government.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1367554.stm |title=Somaliland citizens ask to be recognized as a state |work=[[BBC News]] |date=4 June 2001 |access-date=25 February 2009 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201232830/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1367554.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1361394.stm |title=Somaliland votes for independence |work=[[BBC News]] |date=31 May 2001 |access-date=25 February 2009 |archive-date=9 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209234117/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1361394.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Mogadishu.jpg|thumb|Prior to the civil war, Mogadishu was known as the "White pearl of the Indian Ocean".<ref>Al J. Venter (1975) ''Africa Today'', p. 152, {{ISBN|0-86954-023-8}}</ref>]]

Many of the opposition groups subsequently began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed the ouster of Barre's regime. In the south, armed factions led by USC commanders General [[Mohamed Farah Aidid]] and [[Ali Mahdi Mohamed]], in particular, clashed as each sought to exert authority over the capital.<ref>Library Information and Research Service, ''The Middle East: Abstracts and index'', Vol. 2, (Library Information and Research Service: 1999), p. 327.</ref> In 1991, a multi-phased international conference on Somalia was held in neighbouring Djibouti.<ref name="Paul Fricska">{{cite web|last=Paul Fricska|first=Szilard|title=Harbinger of a New World Order? Humanitarian Intervention in Somalia|url=https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/5267/ubc_1994-0415.pdf?sequence=1|publisher=University of British Columbia|access-date=6 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316145832/https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/5267/ubc_1994-0415.pdf?sequence=1|archive-date=16 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Owing to the legitimacy bestowed on Muhammad by the Djibouti conference, he was subsequently recognized by the international community as the new President of Somalia.<ref name="Paul Fricska"/> He was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital. Power was instead vied with other faction leaders in the southern half of Somalia and with autonomous sub-national entities in the north.<ref>{{cite news|title=Somalia: Some key actors in the transitional process|url=http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/cd80e675a2fba86a49256ff90029df0f?OpenDocument|date=6 May 2005|agency=[[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]]|access-date=7 February 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193104/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/cd80e675a2fba86a49256ff90029df0f?OpenDocument|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Djibouti conference was followed by two abortive agreements for national reconciliation and disarmament, which were signed by 15 political stakeholders: an agreement to hold an Informal Preparatory Meeting on National Reconciliation, and the 1993 Addis Ababa Agreement made at the Conference on National Reconciliation.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In the early 1990s, due to the protracted lack of a permanent central authority, Somalia began to be characterized as a "[[failed state]]."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/14/the-most-failed-state|title=The Most Failed State|magazine=The New Yorker|first=Jon Lee|last=Anderson|date=14 December 2009|access-date=19 May 2015|archive-date=27 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227203612/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/14/the-most-failed-state|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/somalia-a-failed-state-is-back-from-the-dead-8449310.html?printService=print|title=Somalia: A failed state is back from the dead|work=The Independent|first=James|last=Fergusson|date=13 January 2013|access-date=2 May 2015|archive-date=12 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112131834/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/somalia-a-failed-state-is-back-from-the-dead-8449310.html?printService=print|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/10/opinion/yes-there-is-a-reason-to-be-in-somalia.html |title=Yes, There Is a Reason to Be in Somalia |first=Madeleine K. |last=Albright |work=The New York Times |date=10 August 1993 |access-date=22 May 2015 |archive-date=23 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523121239/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/10/opinion/yes-there-is-a-reason-to-be-in-somalia.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Transitional institutions ===
{{Main|Transitional National Government|Transitional Federal Institutions|Transitional Federal Government|Transitional Federal Parliament}}
[[File:Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (28-03-2006).jpg|thumb|[[Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed]], president of the transitional government of Somalia]]

The Transitional National Government (TNG) was established in April–May 2000 at the Somalia National Peace Conference (SNPC) held in Arta, Djibouti. [[Abdiqasim Salad Hassan]] was selected as the President of the nation's new Transitional National Government (TNG), an interim administration formed to guide Somalia to its third permanent republican government.<ref name="Cfbsom">{{cite web|title=Somalia|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|location=Langley, Virginia|year=2014|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/somalia/|access-date=8 April 2014|archive-date=1 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701070127/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The TNG's internal problems led to the replacement of the Prime Minister four times in three years, and the administrative body's reported bankruptcy in December 2003. Its mandate ended at the same time.<ref name="TNG-PRIME-MINISTER-CONCLUDES-FORMATION-OF-CABINET">{{cite web|title=TNG Prime Minister Concludes Formation of Cabinet |url=http://www.banadir.com/cabinet.shtml |date=2003-12-31 |access-date=2014-04-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040921233018/http://www.banadir.com/cabinet.shtml |archive-date=21 September 2004 }}</ref>

On 10 October 2004, legislators elected [[Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed]] as the first President of the [[Transitional Federal Government]] (TFG), the Transitional National Government's successor.<ref name="Spmoarc">{{Cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/13/content_2213479.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041121085231/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/13/content_2213479.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 November 2004|title=:: Xinhuanet – English}}</ref> The TFG was the second interim administration aiming to restore national institutions to Somalia after the 1991 collapse of the Siad Barre regime and the ensuing civil war.<ref name="fctbk">{{cite web|title=Somalia|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|location=Langley, Virginia|year=2014|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/somalia/|access-date=5 October 2011|archive-date=1 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701070127/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was the internationally recognised government of Somalia until 20 August 2012, when its tenure officially ended.<ref name="Fcacsunesinpshm2"/> It was established as one of the [[Transitional Federal Institutions]] (TFIs) of government as defined in the [[Transitional Federal Charter]] (TFC) adopted in November 2004 by the [[Transitional Federal Parliament]] (TFP). The Transitional Federal Government officially comprised the [[Executive (government)|executive]] branch of government, with the TFP serving as the [[Legislature|legislative]] branch. The government was headed by the [[President of Somalia]], to whom the [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] reported through the [[Prime Minister of Somalia|Prime Minister]]. However, it was also used as a general term to refer to all three branches collectively.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

=== Islamic Courts Union ===
{{See also|Islamic Courts Union}}

[[File:Icu somalia map.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Map showing the ICU at the peak of its influence]]

In 2006, the [[Islamic Courts Union]] (ICU) assumed control of much of the southern part of the country for 6 months and imposed [[Shari'a]] law. Top UN officials have referred to this brief period as a 'Golden era' in the history of Somali politics.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Somalia Mourns a 'Golden Era' as Crisis Worsens {{!}} Africa Faith and Justice Network|url=https://afjn.org/somalia-mourns-a-golden-era-as-crisis-worsens/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=afjn.org|date=11 December 2007|archive-date=4 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904122208/https://afjn.org/somalia-mourns-a-golden-era-as-crisis-worsens/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Gettleman|first=Jeffrey|date=2007-11-20|title=As Somali Crisis Swells, Experts See a Void in Aid|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/africa/20somalia.html|access-date=2021-09-04|archive-date=4 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904113438/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/africa/20somalia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Transitional Federal Government ===
{{See also|Somalia War (2006–2009)|Battle of Mogadishu (2006)}}

The Transitional Federal Government sought to re-establish its authority, and, with the assistance of [[Ethiopian National Defense Force|Ethiopian troops]], [[African Union]] peacekeepers and air support by the United States, drove out the ICU and solidified its rule.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/153/26334.html |title=Ethiopian Invasion of Somalia |publisher=Globalpolicy.org |date=14 August 2007 |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-date=10 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910145231/http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/153/26334.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 8 January 2007, TFG President [[Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed]] entered Mogadishu with the Ethiopian military support for the first time since being elected to office. The government then relocated to [[Villa Somalia]] in the capital from its interim location in [[Baidoa]]. This marked the first time since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 that the federal government controlled most of the country.<ref name="Gosppsdott">{{cite web|url=http://www.garoweonline.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=558:somalia-president-parliament-speaker-dispute-over-tfg-term&catid=55:somalia&Itemid=79|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514131640/http://www.garoweonline.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=558%3Asomalia-president-parliament-speaker-dispute-over-tfg-term&catid=55%3Asomalia&Itemid=79|archive-date=14 May 2011|title=Somalia President, Parliament Speaker dispute over TFG term|publisher=Garoweonline.com|date=12 January 2011|access-date=12 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Al-Shabaab insurgency ===
{{See also|Al-Shabaab (militant group)}}
[[Al-Shabaab (Somalia)|Al-Shabaab]] opposed the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia and continued an insurgency against the TFG. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had forced the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force to assist the Transitional Federal Government's troops.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,USCIRF,,,4a4f272bc,0.html |title=USCIRF Annual Report 2009 – The Commission's Watch List: Somalia |date=1 May 2009 |access-date=27 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510005900/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher%2CUSCIRF%2C%2C%2C4a4f272bc%2C0.html |archive-date=10 May 2011  }}</ref>

Owing to a lack of funding and human resources, an [[arms embargo]] that made it difficult to re-establish a national security force, and general indifference on the part of the international community, Yusuf found himself obliged to deploy thousands of troops from Puntland to Mogadishu to sustain the battle against insurgent elements in the southern part of the country. Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous region's government. This left little revenue for Puntland's own security forces and civil service employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Guide_to_Puntland_Election_2009_printer.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928150305/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Guide_to_Puntland_Election_2009_printer.shtml|archive-date=28 September 2013 |title=Somalia: Guide to Puntland Election 2009 |publisher=Garoweonline.com |date=25 December 2008 |access-date=12 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2005/ga10386.html |title=Opening Annual General Assembly Debate, Secretary-General Urges Member States to Press in Tackling Poverty, Terrorism, Human Rights Abuses, Conflicts |publisher=Unis.unvienna.org |access-date=12 June 2011 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727220517/http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2005/ga10386.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 29 December 2008, Yusuf announced before a united parliament in Baidoa his resignation as President of Somalia. In his speech, which was broadcast on national radio, Yusuf expressed regret at failing to end the country's seventeen-year conflict as his government had been mandated to do.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7802622.stm "Somalia's president quits office"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113170135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7802622.stm |date=13 November 2017 }}, [[BBC News]], 29 December 2008.</ref> He also blamed the international community for their failure to support the government, and said that the speaker of parliament would succeed him in office per the [[Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic|Charter of the Transitional Federal Government]].<ref>[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a790e984-d590-11dd-a9cc-000077b07658.html "Somali President Yusuf resigns"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231092213/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a790e984-d590-11dd-a9cc-000077b07658.html |date=31 December 2008 }}, Reuters (FT.com), 29 December 2008.</ref>

=== End of transitional period ===
{{See also|Hizbul Islam|Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a|Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia|Somali Civil War (2009–present)|2009 timeline of the Somali Civil War}}

Between 31 May and 9 June 2008, representatives of Somalia's federal government and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) participated in peace talks in Djibouti brokered by the former United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia, [[Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah]]. The conference ended with a signed agreement calling for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in exchange for the cessation of armed confrontation. Parliament was subsequently expanded to 550 seats to accommodate ARS members, which then elected [[Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed]], as president.<ref name="factbook"/>
With the help of a small team of African Union troops, the TFG began a [[Somali Civil War (2009–present)|counteroffensive]] in February 2009 to assume full control of the southern half of the country. To solidify its rule, the TFG formed an alliance with the Islamic Courts Union, other members of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, and [[Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a]], a moderate [[Sufism|Sufi]] militia.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kamaal |url=http://horseedmedia.net/2010/05/22/un-boss-urges-support-for-somalia-ahead-of-istanbul-summit/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928234017/http://horseedmedia.net/2010/05/22/un-boss-urges-support-for-somalia-ahead-of-istanbul-summit/ |archive-date=28 September 2013 |title=UN boss urges support for Somalia ahead of Istanbul summit |publisher=Horseedmedia.net |date=22 May 2010 |access-date=27 June 2010}}</ref> Furthermore, Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the two main Islamist groups in opposition, began to fight amongst themselves in mid-2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8318798.stm |title=Islamists break Somali port truce |work=[[BBC News]] |date=21 October 2009 |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026052416/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8318798.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> As a truce, in March 2009, the TFG announced that it would re-implement Shari'a as the nation's official judicial system.<ref>[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=119757&d=1&m=3&y=2009 Shariah in Somalia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727054245/http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=119757&d=1&m=3&y=2009 |date=27 July 2020 }} – ''[[Arab News]]''</ref> However, conflict continued in the southern and central parts of the country. Within months, the TFG had gone from holding about 70% of south-central Somalia's conflict zones, to losing control of over 80% of the disputed territory to the Islamist insurgents.<ref name="Gosppsdott" />

In October 2011, a coordinated operation, [[Operation Linda Nchi]] between the Somali and Kenyan militaries and multinational forces began against the Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joint Communique&nbsp;– Operation Linda Nchi |url=http://kenyahighcomtz.org/?action=event-read-more.html&id=1 |archive-date=16 August 2012 |publisher=Kenya High Commission, Tanzania |access-date=25 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816100759/http://www.kenyahighcomtz.org/?action=event-read-more.html&id=1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/africa/horn-of-africa/kenya/184%20-%20The%20Kenyan%20Military%20Intervention%20in%20Somalia.pdf|title=The Kenyan Military Intervention in Somalia|publisher=International Crisis Group|date=15 February 2012|access-date=10 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225142/http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/africa/horn-of-africa/kenya/184%20-%20The%20Kenyan%20Military%20Intervention%20in%20Somalia.pdf|archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> By September 2012, Somali, Kenyan, and [[Raskamboni movement|Raskamboni]] forces had managed to capture Al-Shabaab's last major stronghold, the southern port of Kismayo.<ref>{{cite news|author=Clar Ni Chonghaile|title=Kenyan troops launch beach assault on Somali city of Kismayo|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/28/kenyan-soldiers-capture-kismayo-somalia|access-date=28 September 2012|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=28 September 2012|archive-date=29 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929045744/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/28/kenyan-soldiers-capture-kismayo-somalia|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2012, three European Union operations were launched to engage with Somalia: [[European Union Training Mission Somalia|EUTM Somalia]], EU Naval Force Somalia [[Operation Atalanta]] off the Horn of Africa, and EUCAP Nestor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalgovernance.eu/index.php/p-s-publications/246-new-analysis-the-somali-crisis-and-the-eu-3.html |title=Analysis of EUCAP Nestor by the Global Governance Institute |publisher=Global Governance Institute |date=26 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402205646/http://www.globalgovernance.eu/index.php/p-s-publications/246-new-analysis-the-somali-crisis-and-the-eu-3.html |archive-date=2 April 2013  }}</ref>
[[File:Parlament of Somalia 2012-2016.svg|thumb|left|Structure of the [[Federal Parliament of Somalia]]]]
As part of the official "Roadmap for the End of Transition", a political process that provided clear benchmarks leading toward the formation of permanent democratic institutions in Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government's interim mandate ended on 20 August 2012.<ref name="Aasratdocwau2"/> The [[Federal Parliament of Somalia]] was concurrently inaugurated.<ref name="Fcacsunesinpshm2"/>

=== Federal government ===
The [[Federal Government of Somalia]], the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war, was established in August 2012. In August 2014, the Somali government-led [[Operation Indian Ocean]] was launched against insurgent-held pockets in the countryside.<ref>{{cite news|title=SOMALIA: President says Godane is dead, now is the chance for the members of al-Shabaab to embrace peace|url=http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/09/somalia-president-says-godane-is-dead-now-is-the-chance-for-the-members-of-al-shabaab-to-embrace-peace/|access-date=6 September 2014|agency=Raxanreeb|date=5 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906202740/http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/09/somalia-president-says-godane-is-dead-now-is-the-chance-for-the-members-of-al-shabaab-to-embrace-peace/|archive-date=6 September 2014}}</ref>