The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

and geopolitical region in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), p. 26 Located on the easternmost part of the African mainland, it is the fourth largest peninsula in the world. It is composed of Ethiopia,

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

, Somalia and Djibouti; broader definitions also include parts or all of Kenya,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, South Sudan, and Uganda. The term Greater Horn Region (GHR) can additionally include

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

, and Tanzania. It lies along the southern boundary of the Red Sea and extends hundreds of kilometres into the Guardafui Channel,

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

, and Indian Ocean and shares a maritime border with the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

of Western Asia.

Names

This peninsula has been known by various names. Ancient Greeks and Romans referred to it as Regio Aromatica or Regio Cinnamonifora due to the aromatic plants or as Regio Incognita owing to its uncharted territory. In ancient and medieval times, the Horn of Africa was referred to as the Bilad al Barbar ("Land of the Berbers").J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver, Roland Anthony Oliver, ''The Cambridge History of Africa'', (Cambridge University Press: 1977), p.190 It is also known as the ''Somali peninsula'' or, in the Somali language, ''Geeska Afrika'', ''Jasiiradda Soomaali'' or ''Gacandhulka Soomaali''. In other local languages, it is called "the Horn of Africa" or "the African Horn": in

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

የአፍሪካ ቀንድ ''yäafrika qänd'', in Arabic القرن الأفريقي ''al-qarn al-'afrīqī'', in Oromo ''Gaaffaa Afriikaa'', and in Tigrinya ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ''q’ärnī afīrīqa''. The name Horn of Africa is sometimes shortened to ''HoA''. Quite commonly it is referred to simply as "the Horn", while inhabitants are sometimes colloquially termed ''Horn Africans''.Teklehaimanot, Hailay Kidu. "A Mobile Based Tigrigna Language Learning Tool." International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM) 9.2 (2015): 50–53. Sometimes the term ''Greater Horn of Africa'' is used, either to be inclusive of neighbouring northeast African countries or to distinguish the broader geopolitical definition of the Horn of Africa from narrower peninsular definitions.Schreck, Carl J., and Fredrick HM Semazzi. "Variability of the recent climate of eastern Africa." International Journal of Climatology 24.6 (2004): 681–701.

Description

The Horn of Africa Region consists of the internationally recognized countries of Djibouti,

, Ethiopia, and Somalia, as well as the de facto self-declared

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

George Wynn Brereton Huntingford George Wynn Brereton Huntingford (19 November 1901 – 19 February 1978) was an English linguist, anthropologist and historian. He lectured in East African languages and cultures at SOAS, University of London from 1950 until 1966.John I. Saeed, ''Somali'' – Volume 10 of London Oriental and African language library, (J. Benjamins: 1999), p. 250.Sandra Fullerton Joireman, ''Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa'', (Universal-Publishers: 1997), p.1: "The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. These countries share similar peoples, languages, and geographical endowments." Geographically the protruding shape that resembles a ”Horn” consists of the “Somali peninsula” and eastern part of Ethiopia. But the region encompasses also the rest of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Sometimes the term ''Greater Horn of Africa'' is used, either to be inclusive of neighbouring northeast African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan or to distinguish the broader geopolitical definition of the Horn of Africa from narrower peninsular definitions. Horn of Africa Base Map

The name Horn of Africa is sometimes shortened to ''HoA''. Quite commonly it is referred to simply as "the Horn", while inhabitants are sometimes colloquially termed ''Horn Africans''. Regional studies on the Horn of Africa are carried out in fields such as Ethiopian studies and Somali studies. This peninsula has been known by various names. Ancient Greeks and Romans referred to it as Regio Aromatica or Regio Cinnamonifora due to the aromatic plants or as Regio Incognita owing to its uncharted territory.

History

Prehistory

Some of the earliest '' Homo sapiens'' fossils, the Omo remains (from ca. 233,000 years ago) and the Herto skull (from ca. 160,000 ago) have been found in the region, both in Ethiopia. The findings of the Earliest Stone Tipped Projectiles from the Ethiopian Rift dated to more than 279,000 years ago "in combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, isolate East Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology." According to the

Southern Dispersal In the context of the recent African origin of modern humans, the Southern Dispersal scenario (also the coastal migration or great coastal migration hypothesis) refers to the early migration along the southern coast of Asia, from the Arabian Pen ...

scenario, the Southern route of the Out of Africa migration occurred in the Horn of Africa through the

Bab el Mandeb The Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: , , ) is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Name The strait derives its name from the dangers attendin ...

. Today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about 12 miles (20 kilometres) wide, but 50,000 years ago it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower. Though the straits were never completely closed, there may have been islands in between which could be reached using simple rafts. Shell

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s 125,000 years old have been found in Eritrea, indicating the diet of early humans included seafood obtained by

beachcombing Beachcombing is an activity that consists of an individual "combing" (or searching) the beach and the intertidal zone, looking for things of value, interest or utility. A beachcomber is a person who participates in the activity of beachcombing. ...

. Ethiopian and Eritrean agriculture established the earliest known use of the seed grass teff (''Poa abyssinica'') between 4000 and 1000 BCE. Teff is used to make the flatbread injera/taita. Coffee also originated in Ethiopia and has since spread to become a worldwide beverage.

Ancient history

The area comprising Somalia, Djibouti, the Red Sea coast of

and

is considered the most likely location of the land known to the ancient

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

as '' Punt'' (or "Ta Netjeru," meaning god's land), whose first mention dates to the 25th century BCE. Dʿmt was a kingdom located in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, which existed during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. With its capital probably at Yeha, the kingdom developed irrigation schemes, used

plow A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

s, grew

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

, and made iron tools and weapons. After the fall of Dʿmt in the 5th century BCE, the plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms, until the rise of one of these kingdoms during the 1st century, the Aksumite Kingdom, which was able to reunite the area. Stela aksum

The

Kingdom of Aksum The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...

(also known as the Aksumite Empire) was an ancient state located in the

and Ethiopian highlands, which thrived between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. A major player in the commerce between the Roman Empire and Ancient India, Aksum's rulers facilitated trade by minting their own currency. The state also established its hegemony over the declining Kingdom of Kush and regularly entered the politics of the kingdoms on the

Arabian peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

, eventually extending its rule over the region with the conquest of the Himyarite Kingdom. Under Ezana (fl. 320–360), the kingdom of Aksum became the first major empire to adopt Christianity, and was named by

Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...

as one of the four great powers of his time, along with Persia, Rome and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Somalia was an important link in the Horn, connecting the region's commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Somali sailors and merchants were the main suppliers of

frankincense Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species o ...

myrrh Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus ''Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh mi ...

and spices, all of which were valuable luxuries to the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans, Babylonians and Romans. The Romans consequently began to refer to the region as ''Regio Aromatica''. In the classical era, several flourishing Somali city-states such as Opone, Mosylon and Malao also competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and

Axumites The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wha ...

for the rich Indo-

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

trade. The birth of Islam opposite the Horn's Red Sea coast meant that local merchants and sailors living on the

gradually came under the influence of the new religion through their converted Arab Muslim trading partners. With the migration of Muslim families from the

Islamic world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...

to the Horn in the early centuries of Islam, and the peaceful conversion of the local population by Muslim scholars in the following centuries, the ancient city-states eventually transformed into Islamic Mogadishu, Berbera, Zeila, Barawa and

Merka Merca ( so, Marka, Maay: ''Marky'', ar, مركة) is a historic port city in the southern Lower Shebelle province of Somalia. It is located approximately to the southwest of the nation's capital Mogadishu. Merca is the traditional home territory ...

, which were part of the '' Barbara civilization''.David D. Laitin, Said S. Samatar, ''Somalia: Nation in Search of a State'', (Westview Press: 1987), p. 15. The city of Mogadishu came to be known as the "City of Islam" and controlled the East African gold trade for several centuries.

Middle Ages and Early Modern era

During the Middle Ages, several powerful empires dominated the regional trade in the Horn, including the Adal Sultanate, the Ajuran Sultanate, the Zagwe dynasty, and the Sultanate of the Geledi. The Sultanate of Showa, established in 896, was one of the oldest local

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic states. It was centered in the former

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian language, Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous monarchy, kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The ...

province in central Ethiopia. The polity was succeeded by the Sultanate of Ifat around 1285. Ifat was governed from its capital at Zeila in Somaliland and was the easternmost district of the former Shewa Sultanate. The Adal Sultanate was a medieval multi-ethnic

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

state centered in the Horn region. At its height, it controlled large parts of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea. Many of the historic cities in the region, such as

Amud Amud or Amoud ( so, Camuud, ar, عمود) is an ancient, ruined town in the Awdal region of Somaliland.Damtew Teferra, ''African higher education: an international reference handbook'', (Indiana University Press: 2003) Named after its patron Sain ...

Maduna Maduna ( so, Maduuna) is a medieval town in western Sanaag region of Somaliland, near El Afweyn. History The ruined Islamic city of Maduna is considered the most substantial and most accessible ruin of its type in Somaliland. The main feature of ...

Abasa ʻAbasa ( ar, عبس, "He Frowned") is the 80th chapter ('' sura'') of the Qur'an, with 42 verses ('' ayat''). It is a Meccan sura. The Surah is so designated after the word `abasa with which it opens. Summary *1-11 Muhammad rebuked for frown ...

, Berbera, Zeila and Harar, flourished during the kingdom's golden age. This period that left behind numerous courtyard houses, mosques, shrines and walled enclosures. Under the leadership of rulers such as

Sabr ad-Din II Sabr ad-Din III ( ar, الصبر الدين الثاني) (died 1422 or 1423) was a Sultan of Adal and the oldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. Sabr ad-Din returned to the Horn of Africa from Yemen to reclaim his father's realm. He defeated the Ethiop ...

, Mansur ad-Din,

Jamal ad-Din II Jamal ad-Din II ( ar, جمال اد الدين) (died 1433) was a Sultan of the Adal Sultanate. He was the youngest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II.Pankhurst, Richard. ''The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End ...

, Shams ad-Din, General Mahfuz and Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Adalite armies continued the struggle against the Solomonic dynasty, a campaign historically known as the Conquest of Abyssinia or ''Futuh al Habash''. Gondereshe2008

Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Sultanate successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese incursion from the east during the Gaal Madow and the Ajuran-Portuguese wars. Trading routes dating from the ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were also strengthened or re-established, and the state left behind an extensive architectural legacy. Many of the hundreds of ruined castles and fortresses that dot the landscape of Somalia today are attributed to Ajuran engineers, including a lot of the pillar tomb fields,

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

es and ruined cities built during that era. The royal family, the House of Gareen, also expanded its territories and established its hegemonic rule through a skillful combination of warfare, trade linkages and alliances. The Zagwe dynasty ruled many parts of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea from approximately 1137 to 1270. The name of the dynasty comes from the Cushitic-speaking

Agaw people The Agaw or Agew ( gez, አገው ''Agäw'', modern ''Agew'') are a pan-ethnic identity native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, which belong to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic la ...

of northern Ethiopia. From 1270 onwards for many centuries, the Solomonic dynasty ruled the Ethiopian Empire. Lalibela_Église_Bet_Giyorgis

In the early 15th century, Ethiopia sought to make diplomatic contact with European kingdoms for the first time since Aksumite times. A letter from King

Henry IV of England Henry IV ( April 1367 – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of F ...

to the Emperor of Abyssinia survives. In 1428, the Emperor Yeshaq sent two emissaries to

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...

, who sent return emissaries who failed to complete the return trip. Beshah & Aregay (1964), pp. 13–14. The first continuous relations with a European country began in 1508 with Portugal under Emperor Lebna Dengel, who had just inherited the throne from his father. This proved to be an important development, for when Abyssinia was subjected to the attacks of the Adal Sultanate General and

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (called "''Gurey''" or "''Grañ''", both meaning "the Left-handed"), Portugal assisted the Ethiopian emperor by sending weapons and four hundred men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule. This Ethiopian–Adal War was also one of the first proxy wars in the region as the Ottoman Empire, and Portugal took sides in the conflict. Fakr Ud Din Mosque

When Emperor

Susenyos Susenyos I ( gez, ሱስንዮስ ; circa 1571-1575 – 17 September 1632), also known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1606 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne names were Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad ...

converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in 1624, years of revolt and civil unrest followed resulting in thousands of deaths. The

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionaries had offended the Orthodox faith of the local Ethiopians. On 25 June 1632, Susenyos's son, Emperor Fasilides, declared the state religion to again be Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and expelled the Jesuit missionaries and other Europeans. During the end of 18th and the beginning of 19th century the Yejju dynasty (more specifically, the Warasek) ruled north Ethiopia changing the official language of Amhara people to Afaan Oromo, including inside the court of Gondar which was capital of the empire. Founded by Ali I of Yejju several successive descendants of him and

Abba Seru Gwangul Abba Seru Gwangul (died 1778) was a Son of Aba Getiye. Aba Getiye was a descendant of Sheikh Omar, most commonly referred to as a Wara Sheh, which means "Sons of the Sheikh". The Wara Sheh began to have prominence with the emergence of Aba Gwangul ...

ruled with their army coming from mainly their clan the

Yejju Oromo tribe Yejju Oromo people are a sub clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia. During the 17th century, the Yejju dynasty, more specifically, the Warra Sheik, or sons ...

as well as Wollo and Raya Oromo. ST-Massowa

The Sultanate of the Geledi was a Somali kingdom administered by the Gobroon dynasty, which ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was established by the Ajuran soldier Ibrahim Adeer, who had defeated various vassals of the Ajuran Empire and established the ''House of Gobroon''. The dynasty reached its apex under the successive reigns of Sultan Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, who successfully consolidated Gobroon power during the Bardera wars, and Sultan Ahmed Yusuf, who forced regional powers such as the Omani Empire to submit tribute. The Isaaq Sultanate was a Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It spanned the territories of the Isaaq clan, descendants of the

Banu Hashim ) , type = Qurayshi Arab clan , image = , alt = , caption = , nisba = al-Hashimi , location = Mecca, Hejaz Middle East, North Africa, Horn of Africa , descended = Hashim ibn Abd Manaf , parent_tribe = Qu ...

clan,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. in modern-day

and Ethiopia. The sultanate was governed by the Reer Guled branch of the Eidagale sub-clan established by the first sultan, Sultan

Guled Abdi ''TallBoyz'' is a Canadian television sketch comedy troupe best known for their 2019-2022 CBC Television sketch comedy series. The series stars Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair and Franco Nguyen, who have worked for several years in stage-based ...

. The sultanate is the pre-colonial predecessor to the modern

. 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 Sheikh Ishaaq's Harari wife. There were eight Tolje'lo rulers in total, starting with Boqor Harun () who ruled the Isaaq Sultanate for centuries starting from the 13th century. The last Tolje'lo ruler Garad Dhuh Barar ( 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. The Majeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia) was another prominent Somali sultanate based in the Horn region. Ruled by King

Osman Mahamuud Osman Mahamuud ( so, Cismaan Maxamuud, ar, عثمان محمود), also known as `Uthman III ibn Mahmud, was a Somali king. He led the Majeerteen Sultanate during the 19th century. Majeerteen Sultanate The Majeerteen Sultanate was established b ...

during its golden age, it controlled much of northeastern and central Somalia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The polity had all of the organs of an integrated modern state and maintained a robust trading network. It also entered into treaties with foreign powers and exerted strong centralized authority on the domestic front.''Horn of Africa'', Volume 15, Issues 1–4, (Horn of Africa Journal: 1997), p.130.Michigan State University. African Studies Center, Northeast African studies, Volumes 11–12, (Michigan State University Press: 1989), p.32. Much of the Sultanate's former domain is today coextensive with the autonomous Puntland region in northern Somalia.Istituto italo-africano, ''Africa: rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione'', Volume 56, (Edizioni africane: 2001), p.591. The Sultanate of Hobyo was a 19th-century Somali kingdom founded by Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid. Initially, Kenadid's goal was to seize control of the neighboring Majeerteen Sultanate, which was then ruled by his cousin Boqor Osman Mahamuud. However, he was unsuccessful in this endeavor, and was eventually forced into exile in Yemen. A decade later, in the 1870s, Kenadid returned from the

with a band of Hadhrami

musketeer A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pre ...

s and a group of devoted lieutenants. With their assistance, he managed to establish the kingdom of Hobyo, which would rule much of northern and central Somalia during the early modern period. Helen Chapin Metz, ''Somalia: a country study'', (The Division: 1993), p.10.

Modern history

In the period following the opening of the

Suez canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

in 1869, when European powers scrambled for territory in Africa and tried to establish coaling stations for their ships, Italy invaded and occupied

. On 1 January 1890, Eritrea officially became a colony of Italy. In 1896 further Italian incursion into the horn was decisively halted by Ethiopian forces. By 1936 however, Eritrea became a province of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana), along with Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland. By 1941, Eritrea had about 760,000 inhabitants, including 70,000 Italians. The Commonwealth armed forces, along with the Ethiopian patriotic resistance, expelled those of Italy in 1941, and took over the area's administration. The British continued to administer the territory under a

UN Mandate The term UN mandate is typically used to refer to a long-term international mission which has been authorized by the United Nations General Assembly or the UN Security Council in particular. UN mandates typically involve peacekeeping Peacek ...

until 1951, when Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia, per UN resolution 390 A (V) adopted December 1950. The strategic importance of Eritrea, due to its Red Sea coastline and mineral resources, was the main cause for the federation with Ethiopia, which in turn led to Eritrea's annexation as Ethiopia's 14th province in 1962. This was the culmination of a gradual process of takeover by the Ethiopian authorities, a process which included a 1959 edict establishing the compulsory teaching of

, the main language of Ethiopia, in all Eritrean schools. The lack of regard for the Eritrean population led to the formation of an independence movement in the early 1960s (1961), which erupted into a 30-year war against successive Ethiopian governments that ended in 1991. Following a UN-supervised referendum in Eritrea (dubbed

UNOVER An independence referendum was held in Eritrea, at the time part of Ethiopia, between 23 and 25 April 1993. The result was 99.83% in favour, with a 98.5% turnout. Independence from Ethiopia was declared on 27 April. Conduct The UN Observer Mis ...

) in which the Eritrean people overwhelmingly voted for independence, Eritrea declared its independence and gained international recognition in 1993. In 1998, a border dispute with Ethiopia led to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Raheita Incident 1898

Engelse kameelruiters - English camel troopers

From 1862 until 1894, the land to the north of the

Gulf of Tadjoura The Gulf of Tadjoura (; ) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa. It lies south of the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, or the entrance to the Red Sea, at . The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pea ...

situated in modern-day Djibouti was called ''Obock'' and was ruled by Somali and

Afar Afar may refer to: Peoples and languages *Afar language, an East Cushitic language *Afar people, an ethnic group of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia Places Horn of Africa *Afar Desert or Danakil Desert, a desert in Ethiopia *Afar Region, a region ...

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

s, local authorities with whom France signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 to first gain a foothold in the region.Raph Uwechue, ''Africa year book and who's who'', (Africa Journal Ltd.: 1977), p.209.''A Political Chronology of Africa'', (Taylor & Francis), p.132. In 1894, Léonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the

city of Djibouti Djibouti (also called Djibouti City and in many early English texts and on many early maps, Jibuti; so, Magaalada Jabuuti, french: link=no, Ville de Djibouti, ar, مدينة جيبوتي, aa, Gabuutî Magaala) is the eponymous capital of Dji ...

and named the region ''Côte française des Somalis'' (

French Somaliland French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Ter ...

), a name which continued until 1967. In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a referendum was held in the territory to decide whether to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. The referendum favoured continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans.Barrington, Lowell, ''After Independence: Making and Protecting the Nation in Postcolonial and Postcommunist States'', (University of Michigan Press: 2006), p.115 There was also reports of widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the polls. 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. Djibouti finally gained its independence from France in 1977.

Hassan Gouled Aptidon Hassan Gouled Aptidon ( so, Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon; ar, حسن جوليد أبتيدون) (October 15, 1916 – November 21, 2006) was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999. Biography He was born in the small village of Gerisa in th ...

, a Somali politician who had campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958, became the nation's first president (1977–1999). In early 2011, the Djiboutian citizenry took part in a series of protests against the long-serving government, which were associated with the larger Arab Spring demonstrations. The unrest eventually subsided by April of the year, and Djibouti's ruling People's Rally for Progress party was re-elected to office. The Dervish existed for 25 years, from 1895 until 1920. The Turks named Hassan Emir of the Somali nation, and the Germans promised to officially recognize any territories the Dervishes were to acquire. After a quarter of a century of holding the British at bay, the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 as a direct consequence of Britain's new policy of aerial bombardment. As a result of this bombardment, former Dervish territories were turned into a protectorate of Britain. Italy faced similar opposition from Somali

s and armies, and did not acquire full control of modern Somalia until the Fascist era in late 1927. This occupation lasted until 1941, and was replaced by a British

military administration Military administration identifies both the techniques and systems used by military departments, agencies, and armed services involved in managing the armed forces. It describes the processes that take place within military organisations outsid ...

. Former British Somaliland would remain a protectorate, while Italian Somaliland became a trusteeship. The Union of the two countries in 1960 formed the Somali Republic. A civilian government was formed, and on 20 July 1961, through a popular referendum, the constitution drafted in 1960 was ratified. Due to its longstanding ties with the Arab world, the Somali Republic was accepted in 1974 as a member of the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

.Benjamin Frankel, ''The Cold War, 1945–1991: Leaders and other important figures in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, and the Third World'', (Gale Research: 1992), p.306. During the same year, the nation's former socialist administration also chaired the Organization of African Unity, the predecessor of the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

.Oihe Yang, ''Africa South of the Sahara 2001'', 30th Ed., (Taylor and Francis: 2000), p.1025. In 1991, the Somali Civil War broke out, which saw the dissolving of the union and Somaliland regaining its independence, along with the collapse of the central government and the emergence of numerous autonomous polities, including the Puntland administration in the north. in the northwest. Somalia's inhabitants subsequently reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, either secular,

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudina ...

, with a provision for appeal of all sentences. A Transitional Federal Government was subsequently created in 2004. The

Federal Government of Somalia The Government of Somalia (GS) ( so, Dowladda Soomaaliya, ar, حكومة الصومال الاتحادية) is the internationally recognised government of Somalia, and the first attempt to create a central government in Somalia since the Somal ...

was established on 20 August 2012, concurrent with the end of the TFG's interim mandate. It represents the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war. The

Federal Parliament of Somalia The Federal Parliament of Somalia ( so, Golaha Shacabka Soomaaliya; often ''Baarlamaanka Federaalka Soomaaliya''; ar, البرلمان الاتحادي في الصومال) is the national parliament of Somalia. Formed in August 2012, it is ba ...

serves as the government's legislative branch. Modern Ethiopia and its current borders are a result of significant territorial reduction in the north and expansion in the east and south toward its present borders, owing to several migrations, commercial integration, treaties as well as conquests, particularly by Emperor Menelik II and

Ras Gobena '' Ras'' Gobena Dache ( am, ራስ ጎበና, om, Goobanaa Daaccee; 1821 – July 1889) was a military commander during Menelik II's reign. He is known for campaigning against Oromo territory to incorporate more lands into the Ethiopian Empire in t ...

.John Young. "Regionalism and Democracy in Ethiopia" Third World Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 2 (June 1998) pp. 192 From the central province of Shoa, Menelik set off to subjugate and incorporate ‘the lands and people of the South, East and West into an empire.’ He did this with the help of Ras Gobena's Shewan Oromo militia, began expanding his kingdom to the south and east, expanding into areas that had not been held since the invasion of

Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sultan ...

, and other areas that had never been under his rule, resulting in the borders of Ethiopia of today. Menelik had signed the Treaty of Wichale with Italy in May 1889, in which Italy would recognize Ethiopia's sovereignty so long as Italy could control a small area of northern Tigray (part of modern Eritrea). In return, Italy was to provide Menelik with arms and support him as emperor. Negash (2005), p. 14. The Italians used the time between the signing of the treaty and its ratification by the Italian government to further expand their territorial claims. Italy began a state funded program of resettlement for landless Italians in Eritrea, which increased tensions between the Eritrean peasants and the Italians. This conflict erupted in the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896, in which Italy's colonial forces were defeated by the Ethiopians. The early 20th century in Ethiopia was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I, who came to power after Iyasu V was deposed. In 1935, Haile Selassie's troops fought and lost the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

, after which Italy annexed Ethiopia to Italian East Africa. Haile Selassie subsequently appealed to the League of Nations, delivering an address that made him a worldwide figure and 1935's '' Time'' magazine Man of the Year. Following the entry of Italy into World War II, British Empire forces, together with patriot Ethiopian fighters, liberated Ethiopia during the East African Campaign in 1941. Haile Selassie's reign came to an end in 1974, when a Soviet-backed Marxist-Leninist military junta, the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, deposed him, and established a one-party communist state, which was called the

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) () was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991. The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a Marxist-Leninist one-party state upon the adoption o ...

. In July 1977, the

Ogaden War The Ogaden War, or the Ethio-Somali War (, am, የኢትዮጵያ ሶማሊያ ጦርነት, ye’ītiyop’iya somalīya t’orineti), was a military conflict fought between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 over the Ethiopi ...

broke out after the Somalia government of

Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...

sought to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabited

Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...

region into a Pan-Somali

Greater Somalia Greater Somalia ( so, Soomaaliweyn, ar, الصومال الكبرى ''As-Sūmal al-Kubra'') is a concept to unite all ethnic Somalis comprising the regions in or near the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited ...

. By September 1977, the

Somali army The Somali National Army ( Somali: ''Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed,'' lit. ''"Somali Ground Forces"'') is the ground forces component of the Somali Armed Forces, and is the largest out of the three service branches that make up the majority of the A ...

controlled 90% of the Ogaden, but was later forced to withdraw after Ethiopia's Derg received assistance from the USSR, Cuba,

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

, East Germany and North Korea, including around 15,000 Cuban combat troops. In 1989, the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) merged with other ethnically based opposition movements to form the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), and eventually managed to overthrow Mengistu's dictatorial regime in 1991. A transitional government, composed of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution, was then set up. The first free and democratic election took place later in 1995, when Ethiopia's longest-serving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was elected to office. As with other nations in the Horn region, Ethiopia maintained its historically close relations with countries in the Middle East during this period of change. Zenawi died in 2012, but his Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party remains the ruling political coalition in Ethiopia.

Geography

Geology and climate

The Horn of Africa is almost equidistant from the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

and the Tropic of Cancer. It consists chiefly of mountains uplifted through the formation of the Great Rift Valley, a fissure in the Earth's crust extending from Turkey to Mozambique and marking the separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates. Mostly mountainous, the region arose through faults resulting from the Rift Valley. Geologically, the Horn and Yemen once formed a single landmass around 18 million years ago, before the

rifted and separated the Horn region from the

. The Somali Plate is bounded on the west by the East African Rift, which stretches south from the triple junction in the

Afar Depression The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins; tha ...

, and an undersea continuation of the rift extending southward offshore. The northern boundary is the

Aden Ridge The Aden Ridge is a part of an active oblique rift system located in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula to the north. The rift system marks the divergent boundary between the Somali and Arabian tectonic plates, extending ...

along the coast of Saudi Arabia. The eastern boundary is the

Central Indian Ridge The Central Indian Ridge (CIR) is a north–south-trending mid-ocean ridge in the western Indian Ocean. Geological setting The morphology of the CIR is characteristic of slow to intermediate ridges. The axial valley is 500–1000 m deep; ...

, the northern portion of which is also known as the

Carlsberg Ridge The Carlsberg Ridge is the northern section of the Central Indian Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the African Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, traversing the western regions of the Indian Ocean. The ridge of which the Carls ...

. The southern boundary is the

Southwest Indian Ridge The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floors of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean. A divergent tectonic plate boundary separating the Somali Plate to the north from the Antarctic Plate t ...

. Extensive glaciers once covered the Simien and

Bale Mountains The Bale Mountains (also known as the Urgoma Mountains) are mountain ranges in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia, south of the Awash River, part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They include Tullu Demtu, the second-highest mountain in Ethiopia ...

but melted at the beginning of the Holocene. The mountains descend in a huge escarpment to the Red Sea and more steadily to the Indian Ocean. Socotra is a small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Its size is 3,600 km² (1,390 sq mi) and it is a territory of Yemen. The lowlands of the Horn are generally arid in spite of their proximity to the equator. This is because the winds of the tropical monsoons that give seasonal rains to the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

and the

blow from the west. Consequently, they lose their moisture before reaching Djibouti and northern part of Somalia, with the result that most of the Horn receives little rainfall during the monsoon season. Nasa Horn of Africa

In the mountains of Ethiopia, many areas receive over 2,000 mm (80 in) per year, and even

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

receives an average of 570 mm (23 in). This rainfall is the sole source of water for many areas outside Ethiopia, including Egypt. In the winter, the northeasterly trade winds do not provide any moisture except in mountainous areas of northern Somalia, where rainfall in late autumn can produce annual totals as high as 500 mm (20 in). On the eastern coast, a strong upwelling and the fact that the winds blow parallel to the coast means annual rainfall can be as low as 50 mm (2 in). The climate in Ethiopia varies considerably between regions. It is generally hotter in the lowlands and temperate on the plateau. At Addis Ababa, which ranges from , maximum temperature is and minimum . The weather is usually sunny and dry, but the short (''belg'') rains occur from February to April and the big (''meher'') rains from mid-June to mid-September. The Danakil Desert stretches across 100,000 km² of arid terrain in northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti. The area is known for its volcanoes and extreme heat, with daily temperatures over 45 °C and often surpassing 50 °C. It has a number of lakes formed by lava flows that dammed up several valleys. Among these are Lake Asale (116 m below sea level) and Lake Giuletti/Afrera (80 m below sea level), both of which possess cryptodepressions in the Danakil Depression. The Afrera contains many active volcanoes, including the Maraho, Dabbahu,

Afdera Afdera ( Afar: ''Afxeera'') is one of the districts of Ethiopia, or ''woredas'', in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the saline Lake Afdera, located in the southern part of the Afar Depression. Part of the Administrative Zone 2, Af ...

and Erta Ale. In Somalia, there is not much seasonal variation in climate. Hot conditions prevail year-round along with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from , except at higher elevations along the eastern seaboard, where the effects of a cold offshore current can be felt. Somalia has only two permanent rivers, the

Jubba Thawb ( ar, ثَوْب "garment"), also spelled thobe or tobe and known by various other names in different regions, is an ankle-length robe, usually with long sleeves. It is commonly worn in the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, North Afri ...

and the Shabele, both of which begin in the Ethiopian Highlands.Hadden, Robert Lee. 2007
"The Geology of Somalia: A Selected Bibliography of Somalian Geology, Geography and Earth Science."
Engineer Research and Development Laboratories, Topographic Engineering Center

Ecology

Common beisa oryx (Oryx beisa beisa) female

About 220

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s are found in the Horn of Africa. Among threatened species of the region, there are several

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

s such as the beira, the dibatag, the

silver dikdik The silver dik-dik (''Madoqua piacentinii'') is a small antelope found in low, dense thickets along the southeastern coast of Somalia and in '' Acacia-Commiphora'' bushland in the Shebelle Valley in southeastern Ethiopia. It is the smallest spec ...

and the Speke's gazelle. Other remarkable species include the Somali wild ass, the

desert warthog The desert warthog (''Phacochoerus aethiopicus'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the pig family (Suidae), found in northern Kenya and Somalia, and possibly Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. This is the range of the extant subspecies, commo ...

, the

hamadryas baboon The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula. These re ...

, the Somali pygmy gerbil, the

ammodile The ammodile, walo or Somali gerbil (''Ammodillus imbellis'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the monotypic, only species in the genus ''Ammodillus''. It is found in Ethiopia and Somaliland. Its natural habitat is subtropical ...

, and the

Speke's pectinator Speke's pectinator (''Pectinator spekei'') or Speke's gundi, is a species of rodent in the family Ctenodactylidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Pectinator''.Dieterlen, F. 2005. Family Ctenodactylidae pp. 1536-1537 ''in'' D. E. Wilson a ...

. The Grevy's zebra is the unique wild

equid Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus '' Equus'', w ...

of the region. There are predators such as

spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

, striped hyena and African leopard. The endangered painted hunting dog had populations in the Horn of Africa, but pressures from human exploitation of habitat along with warfare have reduced or extirpated this canid in this region. Some important bird species of the Horn are the

black boubou The black boubou (''Laniarius nigerrimus''), also known as Somali boubou, Erlanger's boubou or coastal boubou, is a medium-size bushshrike. It was split from the tropical boubou as a result of DNA sequence analysis,Nguembock, B., Fjeldså J., Co ...

, the

golden-winged grosbeak The genus ''Rhynchostruthus'' is a small group of finches in the family Fringillinae. Commonly known as golden-winged grosbeaks, they are attractive, chunky, medium-sized, robust-billed songbirds restricted to the southern Arabian and northern So ...

, the

Warsangli linnet The Warsangli linnet (''Linaria johannis'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found only in Warsangeli Territory of Somalia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical high-altit ...

, and the

Djibouti spurfowl The Djibouti spurfowl or Djibouti francolin (''Pternistis ochropectus'') is a bird species in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is critically endangered and found only in Djibouti, a nation in the Horn of Africa. This species is grayish-brown ...

. The Horn of Africa holds more endemic

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s than any other region in Africa, with over 285 species total and about 90 species which are found exclusively in the region. Among endemic reptile genera, there are ''

Haackgreerius ''Haackgreerius'' is a genus of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. Etymology The generic name, ''Haackgreerius'', is in honor of South African herpetologist Wulf Dietrich Haacke and Australian herpetologist Allen E. Greer. Beolens B, W ...

'', ''

Haemodracon ''Haemodracon'' is a small genus of rare geckos from Socotra archipelago. It contains the following species: * — type species * The genus name is related to ''Dracaena cinnabari'' — the most famous tree of Socotra. It gives a red resin kn ...

'', ''Ditypophis'', ''Pachycalamus'' and ''Aeluroglena''. Half of these genera are uniquely found on Socotra. Unlike reptiles,

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s are poorly represented in the region. There are about 100 species of

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

fish in the Horn of Africa, about 10 of which are endemic. Among the endemic, the cave-dwelling Somali blind barb and the Somali cavefish can be found. Commiphora-myrrha-resin-myrrh

It is estimated that about 5,000 species of vascular plants are found in the Horn, about half of which are endemic. Endemism is most developed in Socotra and northern Somalia. The region has two endemic plant families: the

Barbeyaceae ''Barbeya'' is the only genus in the family Barbeyaceae, and has only one species, ''Barbeya oleoides''. It is a small tree native to the mountains of Somalia, Ethiopia, and the Arabian Peninsula. It can be found locally abundant in the transitio ...

and the Dirachmaceae. Among the other remarkable species, there are the cucumber tree found only on Socotra (''Dendrosicyos socotrana''), the Bankoualé palm, the yeheb nut, and the Somali cyclamen. Due to the Horn of Africa's semi-arid and arid climate, droughts are not uncommon. They are complicated by climate change and changes in agricultural practices. For centuries, the region's pastoral groups have observed careful rangeland management practices to mitigate the effects of drought, such as avoiding overgrazing or setting aside land only for young or ill animals. However, population growth has put pressure on limited land and led to these practices no longer being maintained. Droughts in 1983–85, 1991–92, 1998–99 and 2011 have disrupted periods of gradual growth in herd numbers, leading to a decrease of between 37% and 62% of the cattle population. Initiatives by ECHO and USAID have succeeded in reclaiming hundreds of hectares of pastureland through rangeland management, leading to the establishment of the Dikale Rangeland in 2004.Sara Pantuliano and Sara Pavanello (2009
Taking drought into account Addressing chronic vulnerability among pastoralists in the Horn of Africa
Overseas Development Institute

Demographics, ethnicity and languages

Besides sharing similar geographic endowments, the countries of the Horn of Africa are, for the most part, linguistically and ethnically linked together, evincing a complex pattern of interrelationships among the various groups. The two main macro groups in the Horn are the Cushitic-speaking Cushitic peoples traditionally centered in the lowlands and the Ethiosemitic-speaking Ethiopian Highlanders and Eritrean Highlanders centered in the highlands. According to ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'', there are 10 individual languages spoken in Djibouti (two native), 14 in Eritrea, 90 in Ethiopia, 15 in Somalia (Somali being the only native). Most people in the Horn speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic, Semitic, or

Omotic The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have com ...

branches. The Cushitic branch includes Oromo, spoken by the

Oromo people The Oromo (pron. Oromo language, Oromo: ''Oromoo'') are a Cushitic people, Cushitic ethnic group native to the Oromia region of Ethiopia and parts of Northern Kenya, who speak the Oromo language (also called ''Afaan Oromoo'' or ''Oromiffa''), ...

in Ethiopia, and Somali, spoken by the Somali people in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya; the Semitic branch (specifically the

Ethiosemitic Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of ...

sub-branch) includes

, spoken by the

Amhara people Amharas ( am, አማራ, Āmara; gez, ዐምሐራ, ʾÄməḥära) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly inhabiting the Amhara ...

of Ethiopia, and Tigrinya spoken by the

Tigrayan people Tigrayans ( ti, ተጋሩ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily life of Tigr ...

Ethiopia and the Tigrinya people of Eritrea. Other Afroasiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic

, Saho, Hadiyya, Sidamo and

Agaw The Agaw or Agew ( gez, አገው ''Agäw'', modern ''Agew'') are a pan-ethnic identity native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, which belong to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic la ...

languages, the Semitic Tigre, Arabic, Gurage, Harari, Silt'e and Argobba tongues as well as

Omotic languages The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have com ...

are spoken by Omotic communities inhabiting Ethiopia's southern regions. Among these idioms are Aari, Dizi, Gamo, Kafa, Hamer and Wolaytta. Eritrean Women

University students sits in front of Somali traditional house

Languages belonging to the

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. T ...

language family are also spoken in some areas by Nilotic ethnic minorities mostly in Ethiopia and

. These tongues include the Nilo-Saharan Me'en and Mursi languages used in southwestern Ethiopia, and Kunama and Nara idioms spoken in parts of southern Eritrea. Languages belonging to the Niger-Congo language family are also spoken in some areas by

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

ethnic minorities in Somalia. In the riverine and littoral areas of southern Somalia, Bajuni,

Barawani The Bravanese people, also known as the Barawani, are a minority ethnic group inhabiting the city of Barawe of Somalia. Origins As their name suggests, the Bravanese hail from ''Brava'' (Barawa), a port town on the southeastern coast of Somalia. ...

, and Bantu groups also speak variants of the Niger-Congo

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

and Mushunguli languages. The Horn has produced numerous indigenous writing systems. Among these is Ge'ez script ( ') (also known as ''Ethiopic''), which has been written in for at least 2000 years. It is an abugida script that was originally developed to write the Ge'ez language. In speech communities that use it, such as the Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is called ' (), which means "script" or "alphabet". For centuries, Somali sheikhs and Sultans used the Wadaad script (a version of the Arab alphabets) to write. In the early 20th century, in response to a national campaign to settle on a writing script for the

Somali language Somali (Latin script: ; Wadaad writing, Wadaad: ; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 ) is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in ...

(which had long since lost its ancient script), Osman Yusuf Kenadid, a Somali poet and remote cousin of the

Yusuf Ali Kenadid of the Sultanate of Hobyo, devised a phonetically sophisticated alphabet called Osmanya (also known as ''far soomaali''; Osmanya: 𐒍𐒖𐒇 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘) for representing the sounds of Somali. Though no longer the official writing script in Somalia, the Osmanya script is available in the Unicode range 10480-104AF

rom U+10480 – U+104AF (66688–66735) Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

A number of ethnic minority groups in southern Ethiopia and Eritrea also adhere to various traditional faiths. Among these belief systems are the Nilo-Saharan Surma people's acknowledgment of the

sky god The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-In ...

'' Tumu''.

Economy

Coffee beans ethiopia culture africa fabric

According to the IMF, in 2010 the Horn of Africa region had a total GDP (PPP) of $106.224 billion and nominal of $35.819 billion. Per capita, the GDP in 2010 was $1061 (PPP) and $358 (nominal). Over 95% of cross-border trade within the region is unofficial and undocumented, carried out by pastoralists trading livestock.Pavanello, Sara 2010

. London: Overseas Development Institute The unofficial trade of live cattle, camels, sheep and goats from Ethiopia sold to other countries in the Horn and the wider Eastern Africa region, including Somalia and Djibouti, generates an estimated total value of between US$250 and US$300 million annually (100 times more than the official figure), with the towns of Burao and

Yirowe Yirowe, also spelt Yerrowa, Yerowa, Yeroweh or Yerowah ( so, Yiroowe, ) is a town in the Burao District, located in the Togdheer region of Somaliland. The town is located 20 km east of Burao, the provincial capital of the Togdheer region. O ...

in Somaliland being home to the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa, with as many as 10,000 heads of sheep and goats sold daily from all over the Horn of Africa, with many of whom shipped to Gulf states via the port of Berbera. This trade helps lower food prices, increase food security, relieve border tensions and promote regional integration. However, the unregulated and undocumented nature of this trade runs risks, such as allowing disease to spread more easily across national borders. Furthermore, governments are unhappy with lost tax revenue and foreign exchange revenues.

References

Sources

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External links

History of the Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa News Agency

Horn of Africa Biodiversity Hotspot

Horn of Africa Concerns
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives

Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa official website

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